Jemma

Where Jemma comes from

The dictionaries list Jemma as a given name — a female given name from Italian, a spelling variant of Gemma; by folk etymology also used as a feminine form of James/Jem — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Italian
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1915
    First appearance
    #3,795 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1994
    Jemma McKenzie-Brown born
    actress, singer, dancer
  3. 1998
    Jemma Reekie born
    Scottish middle-distance runner
  4. 2018
    Peak, #527
    594 babies named Jemma — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Italian, a spelling variant of Gemma; by folk etymology also used as a feminine form of James/Jem.
Namesakes
  • Jemma McKenzie-Brown · actress, singer, dancer, born 1994
  • Jemma Reekie · Scottish middle-distance runner, born 1998
  • Jemma Lowe · British swimmer, born 1990
  • Jemma Dallender · British actress, born 1988
  • Jemma Simpson · British middle-distance runner, born 1984

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.