Jemimah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "dove" or "little dove".
Name Census estimates that about 538 living Americans carry the first name Jemimah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jemimah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jemimah births was 2015 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jemimah. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jemimah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
538
~ 1 in 637,090 Americans
Peak year
2015
31 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,693
Tracked since 1980
Census
Jemimah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 642 people with the first name Jemimah, which placed it at #17,263 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
#17,263
National first-name rank
People counted
642
642 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jemimah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jemimah is Black at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.3%) and White (11.4%). 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 Jemimah 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 Jemimah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.8% · 320
- Asian and Pacific Islander24.3% · 156
- White11.4% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 65
- Two or more races3.7% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Jemimah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jemimah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 256 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jemimah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jemimah 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 Jemimah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jemimahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Florida, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Jemimah, while California, Texas, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jemimah
The name Jemimah has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient biblical times. It is a feminine form of the Hebrew name Yemîmâh, which means "dove" or "innocent one." This name is found in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically in the Book of Job, where Jemimah is mentioned as one of Job's three daughters.
In the Book of Job, Jemimah is described as being exceptionally beautiful, and her name is thought to represent purity, innocence, and gentleness. The name gained popularity among early Christian communities, who were inspired by its biblical roots and symbolic meaning.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jemimah can be found in the 17th century. Jemimah Hextall was an English Quaker born in 1614, who became known for her religious writings and advocacy for women's rights within the Quaker community.
Another notable figure in history with the name Jemimah was Jemimah Wilkinson, an American religious leader born in 1752. She founded a religious movement known as the Universal Friends, which attracted followers in various parts of New England and the Mid-Atlantic region.
In the 19th century, Jemimah Hubbert was a British philanthropist born in 1815. She dedicated her life to improving the living conditions of working-class families in London and was instrumental in establishing several charitable organizations.
Jemimah Stephenson, born in 1836, was a British social reformer and activist who campaigned for women's rights and played a significant role in the early women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom.
Another prominent figure with the name Jemimah was Jemimah Pratt, a British nurse born in 1856. She served as a nurse during the Crimean War and later worked to improve nursing education and standards in the United Kingdom.
While the name Jemimah has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has maintained a sense of cultural significance and biblical resonance. Its meaning of innocence, purity, and gentleness has endured, making it a name with a rich historical legacy.
People
Jemimah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jemimah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jemimah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jemimah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 538 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jemimah 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 637,090 US residents.
Is Jemimah a common name?
We classify Jemimah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 544 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jemimah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jemimah was 2015, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jemimah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jemimah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 642 people with the name Jemimah, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,263 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 Jemimah 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 Jemimah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jemimah appears almost entirely female. Of the 641 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Jemimah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jemimah is Black at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.3%) and White (11.4%). 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 Jemimah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jemimah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (320 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 Jemimah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jemimah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jemimah 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 Jemimah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jemimah 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 Jemimah 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 have the name Jemimah?
See how many people share the name Jemimah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.