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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Jemima?

31 replies

poocatcherchampion · 03/07/2013 18:47

wdyt? we were going for Georgina but dd is suddenly fixated on Jemima instead.

without sharing my view, so it is an unbiased survey - what does mumsnet think?

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CruCru · 04/07/2013 22:10

Jemima is a nice name, could be shortened to Mimi. Never heard of the Aunt Jemima thing.

turningvioletviolet · 04/07/2013 20:11

DD2 is Jemima. I love it (obviously). She is wild and messy and full of mischief and somehow it suits her down to the ground. Absolutely in no way sloaney. She's the only one at school but it's in no way wacky or out there. And so be it if there are puddleduck and play school connections. All names have some connection to something and both those are happy memories for me.

gingeme · 04/07/2013 13:10

Love it too. It would have been my choice had I ever had à dd but alas 5 ds's put a stop to that

MerryMarigold · 04/07/2013 13:04

I think now you mention it, there is an Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix in Tescos. However, I think if you are white/ Asian it would be difficult to be tarred by association and would help remove the ridiculous prejudice around a name!

Tommy · 04/07/2013 12:57

always just reminds me of the doll from PlaySchool
Or Jemima Puddleduck
but then I am very old

Mrsindecision · 04/07/2013 12:54

Whilst I do agree with you MerryMarigold, it is simply a fact that the name in the US/Canada is very loaded and therefore people in North American cannot see past this. I therefore personally decided to choose a name without such associations and given there are so many beautiful girls names to choose from I didn't see the point of selecting one with potential issues.

squoosh · 04/07/2013 11:50

Tom has always been a common name though, Jemima hasn't been in fashion for about a hundred years, so in America the name Jemima has very strong associations.

Doesn't matter if you don't live there, but good to know anyway.

MerryMarigold · 04/07/2013 11:38

I love Jemima. I mean, how many Toms do you know that are completely unaffected by 'racial implications'?

squoosh · 04/07/2013 11:36

Aunt Jemima is the female equivalent of Uncle Tom in America.

Original poster
poocatcherchampion · 04/07/2013 11:25

can someone explain the racial implications? I'll look on google too.

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Mrsindecision · 04/07/2013 10:36

We considered Jemima but I just couldn't get past the vast amount of negative feedback on the Internet (particularly regarding the significant racial implications in the US). I realise that this is in part stupid given that we live in the UK but I wanted a name I felt I would be proud to say anywhere in the world and that wouldn't be a problem for her if she decided to study/live in North America one day! Also, there was a slight part of me that wondered how well the name worked for an adult (a good test for this is to imagine being called the name yourself). I do however still really like the name, just on balance too many things stacked against it for us!

Original poster
poocatcherchampion · 04/07/2013 10:14

....is what we are calling it in utero. i didnt think we might be calling it that in the outside world too!

OP posts:
nectarini1983 · 04/07/2013 08:35

.....Puddle Duck!

4x4 · 04/07/2013 04:08

I love it. It's unusual but classic.

ItStartedInRome · 04/07/2013 03:07

Like the name but we ruled it out for our DD as lots of people we tried it out on said Jemma/Gemma rather than Jemima. Oddly we ended up with a name close to Georgina instead.

PeriodMath · 04/07/2013 03:03

Love it but can't use it because of the American thing. And we will be spending a considerable amount of time there. Apparently it's associated with slavery and stereotypical images of black women of that time.

Notafoodbabyanymore · 04/07/2013 02:51

Another one who loves it. Sorry! Grin

sleepingbeautiful · 04/07/2013 02:45

I don't know. I used to like it, but then a really try hard "I'm so posh honest" (twinset, Waitrose, riding lessons) colleague used it and she irritates me so much.
Also DH (Canadian) said can't use it as in North America everyone would laugh - apparently the famous brand of pancake syrup is 'Aunt Jemima's'.

DramaAlpaca · 03/07/2013 23:21

Love it.

Frenchvanilla · 03/07/2013 20:15

Love it! Great name

Original poster
poocatcherchampion · 03/07/2013 20:13

oh man! I'm not at all sure about it and thought that's what everyone would say. not sure whether to show him this thread now! Grin

OP posts:
Dackyduddles · 03/07/2013 20:11

Love it too. We know one. Her nn is Gigi

Coldcuppacoffee · 03/07/2013 19:49

Desperate for a girl to use this name. Nickname: Mima.

Greenandcabbagelooking · 03/07/2013 19:43

I love it!

answers · 03/07/2013 19:39

Jemima - Our daughter's middle name ... we love it .... and so do all her friends apparently.... go for it :)

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