Gema
A feminine Spanish name derived from the word "gema" meaning "gem" or "jewel".
Name Census estimates that about 2,753 living Americans carry the first name Gema. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gema today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gema births was 2022 (125 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gema. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 124,502 Americans
Peak year
2022
125 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,729
Tracked since 1959
Census
Gema in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,969 people with the first name Gema, which placed it at #4,625 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,625
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
3,969 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
91.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gema
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gema is Hispanic at 91.9%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gema described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gema at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.9% · 3,647
- White5.0% · 197
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 62
- Black or African American1.1% · 42
- Two or more races0.4% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Popularity
Gema: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gema from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 681 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Gema remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gema by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gema during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gemas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Gema, while Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 156 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gema
The given name Gema has its origins in the Spanish language. It is a variant spelling of the name Gemma, which is derived from the Latin word "gemma," meaning "precious stone" or "jewel." The name has been in use since ancient Roman times.
In ancient Roman culture, gemstones were highly valued and considered symbols of wealth, beauty, and status. As a result, the name Gemma was often given to girls who were considered precious and highly esteemed within their families or communities.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Gemma can be found in the writings of the ancient Roman historian Pliny the Elder, who lived from 23 to 79 AD. He mentions a woman named Gemma in his work "Naturalis Historia," which is a comprehensive encyclopedia of natural history.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women named Gemma or the variant Gema. One example is Gemma Frisius, a 16th-century Dutch mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher, who lived from 1508 to 1555. She made significant contributions to the study of mathematics and cartography.
Another famous figure with this name is Gemma Donati, an Italian noblewoman who lived from 1300 to 1370. She is known for being the subject of several poems written by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, who was deeply enamored with her.
In the 17th century, there was a Spanish playwright named Gema Muñoz, who lived from 1620 to 1688. She is considered one of the earliest known female playwrights in Spanish literature.
More recently, Gema Zamprogna is a Canadian actress born in 1977, known for her roles in various television shows and movies.
Additionally, Gema Hassen-Bey is a Spanish journalist and writer born in 1969, known for her work on issues related to gender equality and women's rights.
While the name Gema is more commonly used in Spanish-speaking countries, it has also been adopted in other cultures and languages, particularly those influenced by Roman or Spanish heritage.
People
Gema + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gema as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gema: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gema?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,753 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gema going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 124,502 US residents.
Is Gema a common name?
We classify Gema as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,823 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gema most popular?
The single biggest year for Gema was 2022, when 125 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gema is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gema in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,969 people with the name Gema, or 1.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,625 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gema in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gema?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gema appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,972 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gema?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gema is Hispanic at 91.9%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gema most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Gema in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.9% (3,647 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gema in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gema a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gema in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gema still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gema in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gema can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Gema?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.