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James Thornton (tight end) (born 1965), American football player •
James Thornton (cricketer) (1861–1916), English cricketer •
James Thornton (naval officer) (1826–1875), officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War •
James R. Thornton (1853–1911), president of Hampden–Sydney College for two and a half weeks in 1904 •
James Worth Thornton (1906–1983), businessman and scion of the Thorntons of Indiana •
James Thornton (health economist) (born 1955), professor of economics at Eastern Michigan University •
James E. Thornton, American computer scientist