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Jemima

#3,543 in 2025Girls' name

Dove

Jemima has been given to 1,832 babies in the U.S. since 1881. In 2025 it ranked #3,543 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2018, with 64 recorded.

Babies named Jemima, 2025

1 in 77,100

Jemima over time, 1880–2025

Girls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Jemima: meaning, origin, and history

Dove

Hebrew

What Jemima means

Jemima means “dove”, associated with יְמִימָה.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From the name of a minor biblical character, from Hebrew יְמִימָה (“dove”). By folk etymology also used as a feminine form of James.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Jemima (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Jemima is used in English and Faroese. Its origins include Hebrew.

Jemima comes through Hebrew יְמִימָה.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include James.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Jemima is pronounced /d͡ʒəˈmaɪmə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,832 girls were recorded with the name Jemima between 1881 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 64 in 2018; its best national rank was #713 in 1885.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,110 in 2020 to #3,543 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #4,181 in 2015 to #3,543 in 2025.

How common is Jemima?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 77,100
43 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 37,400
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,543
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
53,441 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Jemima sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 53,441 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Jemima. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jemimas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Jemima was born before 2005 — so the typical Jemima is around 20 today.

Median birth year
2005
About 20 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
24.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
56.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,456
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 24.1% of all recorded uses (442).

Is Jemima rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−591
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+567
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+638
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.23×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
67.2%
Peak was 2018 (64)
Years since peak
7
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#713
1885

Spellings of Jemima

Jemima is not the most common spelling — Emma is, with 91.0% against Jemima's 0.21%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Jemima is used

Across 2016–2025, Jemima was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 16,667 girls, against 1 in 42,003 across all states with data. It was least common in California (1 in —).

06 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 16,667
  2. 2Pennsylvania1 in 16,667
  3. 3Florida1 in 25,000
  4. 4Massachusetts1 in 50,000
  5. 5Maryland1 in 50,000
  6. 6Ohio1 in 100,000
  7. 7Texas1 in 100,000
  8. 8California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Jemima around the world

Where Jemima ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #444
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1974–2021
    #792
    in 2021
  • Northern Ireland
    2002–2017
    #432
    in 2017
  • Ireland
    1984–2012
    #677
    in 2012
  • France
    1987–2025
    #2,820
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1995–2024
    #1,854
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1968–2013
    #205
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Jemima by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,543
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 567
Best rank ever
#713
1885
Peak year
2018
64 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,832
Count in 2025
43

Names similar to Jemima

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

KarimaHalimaJemimahJemiahBlimaJemmaSalimaMahimaRimaSimaZuleimaCosimaNaimaJemaSaimaShaimaTemimaAlimaRahimaFahimaMaximaJemmahJemilaNyima

Sibling names for Jemima

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Jemima

Top names of 2018, Jemima's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1885Girls' names starting with J