How to say it
GEM · ma
/ˈdʒɛm.ə/
Feminine
Gemma
Gem, jewel
What it means
Italian for 'gem' or 'jewel,' from Latin gemma. Saint Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was an Italian mystic whose canonization in 1940 spread the name across Catholic Europe.
Gemma is the Italian word for 'gem' or 'jewel,' from Latin gemma ('bud' or 'precious stone'). The name was popular in medieval Italy (Gemma Donati was Dante's wife); Saint Gemma Galgani (1878-1903), an Italian mystic who experienced the stigmata, was canonized in 1940 and spread the name through Catholic Europe. The English-language adoption is recent: rare in the US before 2010, then climbing. Gemma Arterton (the British actress, Quantum of Solace) and Sons of Anarchy's Gemma Teller Morrow (Katey Sagal) are the modern English-language anchors. It entered the US top 200 in 2016. Pronounced JEM-ah in English; YEM-ah in Spanish.
Popularity over time
peaked at #170 in 2025, currently #170 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pronunciation
JEM-ah in English/Italian; YEM-ah in Spanish (where the G before E softens). Both standard.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Saint Gemma Galgani Italian mystic and stigmatic, canonized 1940
- Gemma Arterton British actress, Quantum of Solace and Tamara Drewe
Spelling variants
- Jemma