Gemma
A feminine name derived from the gem stone, meaning "precious stone".
Name Census estimates that about 23,187 living Americans carry the first name Gemma. It sits at #203 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gemma today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gemma births was 2023 (1,653 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gemma. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gemma with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Gemma is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
23K
~ 1 in 14,782 Americans
Peak year
2023
1,653 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#203
Tracked since 1904
Census
Gemma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 19,014 people with the first name Gemma, which placed it at #1,652 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,652
National first-name rank
People counted
19K
19,014 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gemma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gemma is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gemma described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gemma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.6% · 11,715
- Hispanic or Latino16.5% · 3,133
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.8% · 2,434
- Two or more races5.9% · 1,130
- Black or African American2.7% · 522
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 80
Popularity
Gemma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gemma from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 11,463 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Gemma remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gemma by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gemma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gemmas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Gemma, while Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 430 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gemma
The name Gemma has its origins in the Latin language, derived from the word "gemma" which means "precious stone" or "jewel." It is believed to have been in use since ancient Roman times, particularly among families of higher social status who associated the name with beauty and rarity.
In medieval Europe, the name Gemma gained popularity due to its association with Saint Gemma Galgani, an Italian mystic and nun who lived in the late 19th century. She was known for her spiritual visions and was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1940. The name symbolized purity and devotion.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Gemma can be found in the works of the Roman poet Ovid, who lived from 43 BC to 17 AD. In his famous work "Metamorphoses," he mentions a character named Gemma, highlighting the name's classical roots.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Gemma. One example is Gemma Frisius (1508-1555), a Dutch mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and mapmaking.
Another prominent figure was Gemma Donati (1350-1405), an Italian scholar and poet who was known for her literary works and her involvement in the intellectual circles of Renaissance Florence.
In the realm of art, Gemma Jones (born 1942) is a British actress who has had a successful career spanning over six decades, with notable roles in films such as "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."
Gemma Arterton (born 1986) is a contemporary English actress known for her roles in films like "Quantum of Solace," "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," and "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters."
Gemma Ward (born 1987) is an Australian model and actress who rose to fame in the early 2000s and has graced the covers of numerous fashion magazines, as well as appearing in films like "The Strangers."
People
Gemma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gemma as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gemma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gemma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23,187 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gemma going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 14,782 US residents.
Is Gemma a common name?
We classify Gemma as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 24,227 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gemma most popular?
The single biggest year for Gemma was 2023, when 1,653 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gemma is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gemma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 19,014 people with the name Gemma, or 6.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,652 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gemma in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gemma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gemma appears almost entirely female. Of the 19,024 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gemma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gemma is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gemma most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gemma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.6% (11,715 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gemma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gemma a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gemma in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gemma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gemma in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gemma can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Gemma?
Find out how many Americans are named Gemma on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.