Jemima

Jemima (f) Hebrew, ‘dove.’ This was the name of one of
Job’s daughters, and its occurrence in the Old Testament
sanctioned its use amongst the Puritans. It was reasonably popular in Scotland in the nineteenth century, and in 1858 it was the 25th most frequently used name for girls. In 1935 it was still in 6th position, but only 23 girls born in Scotland received the name in 1958. Miss E. G. Withycombe may have had something to do with this by referring to Jemima in her dictionary as ‘an ugly name.’ Sir Walter Scott used the name for a character in his story, My Aunt Margaret’s Mirror. A pet form was Mima. The Gaelic form was Simeag.

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