Jem
given name · Latin script
Meaning: From a medieval vernacular form of oJames
Recorded for both men and women· direction only, no split published
/dʒɛm/(machine-generated) pronunciation, model-generated
Jem is a given name written in the Latin script, with more bearers in the Philippines than in any other country.
- PHPhilippines≈1 in 45K(inferred from the name graph)
- AUAustralia≈1 in 82K
- GBUnited Kingdom≈1 in 119K
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- Philippines (inferred from the name graph)
- Sources
- 221 (measured from records)
- 1 in 42K (inferred from the name graph)
≈2,400 people, est.
Highest-authority source
Guyana
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Meaning & origin(measured from records)
From a medieval vernacular form of oJames. In modern use, however, it is often used as a short form of }Jeremy.
Sources 1
- A concise dictionary of first names
Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.
Where in the world(measured from records)
Jem counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PH Philippines | ≈2,400 est. | ≈1 in 45K | — | Jem | 80 |
| GB United Kingdom | ≈560 est. | ≈1 in 119K | 3 | Jem | 144 |
| US United States | 535 | 1 in 622K | 285 | Jem | 221 |
| AU Australia | ≈310 est. | ≈1 in 82K | 1 | Jem | 99 |
| NG Nigeria | ≈270 est. | ≈1 in 781K | — | Jem | 14 |
| SG Singapore | ≈72 est. | ≈1 in 86K | — | Jem | 18 |
| GY Guyana | 18 | 1 in 42K | 18 | — | 2 |
Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; NRS — Baby names Scotland full list (1974–present); SA BDM — Popular baby names South Australia (1944–present); Guyana — Official List of Electors July 2025. Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses(measured from records)
Jem is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
In English, A diminutive of the male given names James, Jeremy, or Jeremiah.
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
English: from a medieval vernacular form of JAMES . In modern use, however, it is often taken as a pet form of JEREMY .
as a word
In Polish, first-person singular present indicative of jeść
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In Albanian, first-person singular present subjunctive of jam
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In Slovenian, first-person singular present of jesti
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name(measured from records)
- Jem Maceb. 1831GBBritish boxer (1831–1910)
- Jem Carneyb. 1856GBBritish boxer (1856–1941)
- Jem Baylissb. 1863GBEnglish footballer (1863-1933)
- Jem Smithb. 1863GBBritish boxer (1863-1931)
- Jem Marshb. 1930GBEnglish engineer
- Jem Posterb. 1949GBEnglish poet and novelist
- Jem Southamb. 1950GBBritish photographer (born 1950)
- Jem Cohenb. 1962USAmerican filmmaker (born 1962)
- Jem Bendellb. 1972GBBritish researcher and academic
- Jem Karacanb. 1989GBTurkish association football player (born 1989)
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
How to address them(machine-generated)
Evidence(measured from records)
Attested in 32 sources across 22 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 285 | #19,654 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex | 2020 | 250 | #19,654 |
| GY Guyana | Guyana — Official List of Electors July 2025 | 2025 | 18 | #576 |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1987 | 11 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2021 | 9 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1988 | 9 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 1990 | 8 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2023 | 7 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2015 | 7 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2003 | 7 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2024 | 6 | — |
| US United States | SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) | 2022 | 6 | — |
Reference works 1
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does the name Jem come from?
- From a medieval vernacular form of oJames. In modern use, however, it is often used as a short form of }Jeremy. Recorded by A concise dictionary of first names.
- Is Jem a male or female name?
- Jem is recorded for both men and women. We don't publish a percentage split: a record's gender belongs to the person and is attached to every given name on that record, so names in cultures where a name string also carries a parent's or spouse's given name pick up large cross-gender counts.
- What are other forms of the name Jem?
- In the etymology graph, Jerry, Jay and Jeremy are forms of the same name in other languages; Jimmy, Jimmie and Jimi are recorded short or pet forms; it is recorded as a short form of James and Jaymes.
- How do you pronounce Jem?
- A machine transcription gives /dʒɛm/ (IPA) for English.
- What does the name Jem mean?
- Recorded meaning: From a medieval vernacular form of oJames.
- In which country does Jem have the most bearers?
- Mondonomo estimates about 2.4 thousand people named Jem in the Philippines, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled jem.
- Where is Jem most common?
- Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Jem is densest in Guyana — about 1 in 42 thousand people — even though Philippines holds more of our records for it.
- How common is the name Jem?
- In the United States, the national register counted 535 people named Jem in 2020, about 1 in 622 thousand residents.
What do you want to know about Jem?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/jemThe payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), which returns what this page shows everyone; the full country table, every register citation and the year-by-year series come with a licensed key, as does bulk access.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Jem”. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.