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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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Original poster
poocatcherchampion · 03/07/2013 18:48

dh not dd. dd doesn't get a vote Smile

OP posts:
Layl77 · 03/07/2013 18:54

Much prefer it to Georgina

cantreachmytoes · 03/07/2013 18:55

Yes, yes and yes again. Only reason we're not naming our daughter that is because my (foreign) DH INSISTS it's not an English name!!!!! I think it is beautiful and the name feels nice to say too!

redrubyshoes · 03/07/2013 18:57

I love it. I have read it is the feminine version of James or means 'dove'.

shockers · 03/07/2013 19:01

It's my DD's middle name, it would have been her forename, but she's adopted and we had to go for what she was familiar with. It is one of my favourite names ever.

Elquota · 03/07/2013 19:37

I much prefer Georgina, it's lovely and classic.

I find Jemima a bit sloaney and dated.

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 :)

Greenandcabbagelooking · 03/07/2013 19:43

I love it!

Coldcuppacoffee · 03/07/2013 19:49

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

Dackyduddles · 03/07/2013 20:11

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

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:
Frenchvanilla · 03/07/2013 20:15

Love it! Great name

DramaAlpaca · 03/07/2013 23:21

Love it.

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'.

Notafoodbabyanymore · 04/07/2013 02:51

Another one who loves it. Sorry! Grin

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.

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.

4x4 · 04/07/2013 04:08

I love it. It's unusual but classic.

nectarini1983 · 04/07/2013 08:35

.....Puddle Duck!

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:
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 11:25

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

OP posts:
squoosh · 04/07/2013 11:36

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

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 11:50

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.