The name Nehemie is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Nehemiah. It originated in ancient Israel around the 5th century BC. The name is derived from the Hebrew words "neḥem" meaning "to comfort" and "Yah" which is a shortened form of the name of the Hebrew God Yahweh.

The name Nehemiah appears in the Bible's Old Testament book which bears his name, the Book of Nehemiah. This book records the memoir of a Jewish man named Nehemiah, who served as a cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes I in the 5th century BC. Nehemiah led the rebuilding efforts of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Nehemiah was the biblical figure himself, from the 5th century BC. Another prominent Nehemiah was Nehemiah ben Hushiel, a medieval Jewish philosopher and commentator on the Torah, who lived in the 11th century AD.

In the 17th century, Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712) was an English plant anatomist and philosopher. He is considered one of the founders of the study of plant anatomy and physiology. Nehemiah Dodge (1679-1727) was an American Congregational minister and author in the early 18th century.

Nehemiah Adams (1806-1878) was a 19th-century American clergyman, theologian, and writer. He served as a pastor in Boston and wrote several influential works on religion and moral philosophy.