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Help[Opinions] Jemima?
WDYT? Is it too syrupy? I think it is kind of cute, and the nicknames Jemi and Mimi are totally adorable.
Is it usable?
Is it usable?
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I think it's unusable in the U.S., unfortunately. Maybe years down the line if the Aunt Jemima syrup line goes out of production or changes their name, but otherwise it's just not a very positive association. I love the name, though--very British and Beatrix Potter to me. :b
~Heather~
"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Ernest Gaines
~Heather~
"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Ernest Gaines
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Aunt Jemima did real damage to this name in the U.S.
Besides the syrup/waffles/pancakes stuff, it's a racial term that can be used as a slur. And it's such a strong association, it's really pretty hard to see past that. I *think* I'd like this name a lot actually, but I just can't judge it on sound alone the way I do with most names.
Besides the syrup/waffles/pancakes stuff, it's a racial term that can be used as a slur. And it's such a strong association, it's really pretty hard to see past that. I *think* I'd like this name a lot actually, but I just can't judge it on sound alone the way I do with most names.
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I think it's a lovely name
but I live in the U.S. and I think here the name carries too much baggage. Pity, as it is a lovely name.
“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
~Mark Twain
but I live in the U.S. and I think here the name carries too much baggage. Pity, as it is a lovely name.
~Mark Twain
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OMG! i agree in every way!!
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I love this name, it's a fave of mine. Not too keen on the nn's you mentioned, I prefer Jem as a nn. I think it's a gorgeous name.
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Re:I love it. Mimi or Jemi would be adorable nn's
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Drama is life with the dull bits cut out-Alfred Hitchcock
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Drama is life with the dull bits cut out-Alfred Hitchcock
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I really don't like it, because it does remind me of the syrup, haha... but you are right, Jemi is a cute nickname.
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I love the nick name Jemi, but when I saw Jemima, I thought of Aunt Jemima, and I do like syrup....
"Is this you? Are you happily engrossed in inconsequential cartoon trivia to the point that your socks can proboly stand up by themselves? Well there's hope. There's help. There's the "Please, Please, Please Get A Life Foundation."
-Yakko, Animaniacs
L'Eau Qui Pleure
"Is this you? Are you happily engrossed in inconsequential cartoon trivia to the point that your socks can proboly stand up by themselves? Well there's hope. There's help. There's the "Please, Please, Please Get A Life Foundation."
-Yakko, Animaniacs
L'Eau Qui Pleure
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I really like it! It may not be something that I'd use, but I think it's very pretty and sweet (not syrupy-sweet though :-)
I've been able to get past the syrup association to see what a nice name this is, although it did take a little time. I hope more and more people can follow suit.
Love is the lord of the house within him and rules all the concerns of his soul- Plato
I've been able to get past the syrup association to see what a nice name this is, although it did take a little time. I hope more and more people can follow suit.
Love is the lord of the house within him and rules all the concerns of his soul- Plato
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this is going to be my little sisters name, well whenever my dad decides to marry the dirty peruvian woman, but that;s all right, anyway it would be spelled xemena(pronounced jem-en-ah). but i do like the name, even though i hate the woman who suggested it. don't mind me though just the thought of her makes me angry.
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Sorry, I don't like this name. But I do kinda like Jemi.
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I adore Jemima . . .
. . . it's so soft and sweet, and the meaning is lovely. Jem is a cute nickname for it, too.
Unfortunately, in Australia, Jemima has always been the name of the rag doll on the childrens' preschool show "Play School", which is watched by pretty much every child who has a TV, and has been running since the 1960s. Jemima means "rag doll" for two and a half generations of Australian children! So I'm not sure it's usable here, even as a middle name (since most kids tell their friends their middle names eventually, and I knew kids at school who were regularly teased for their notable middle names!). However, it's a name that I keep in mind.
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
. . . it's so soft and sweet, and the meaning is lovely. Jem is a cute nickname for it, too.
Unfortunately, in Australia, Jemima has always been the name of the rag doll on the childrens' preschool show "Play School", which is watched by pretty much every child who has a TV, and has been running since the 1960s. Jemima means "rag doll" for two and a half generations of Australian children! So I'm not sure it's usable here, even as a middle name (since most kids tell their friends their middle names eventually, and I knew kids at school who were regularly teased for their notable middle names!). However, it's a name that I keep in mind.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
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I know a two girls called Jemima and they haven't been teased because of Play School. Its weird because I would have thought exactly the same as you, but they haven't been teased. One Jemima is in my grade at school and we sometimes bring it up as a joke, but not teasing. The other is six and she doesn't even think of it.
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Hmm . . .
I'm not surprised that neither the 6-year-old or the Year 12 Jemima currently get teased - 6-year-olds usually haven't learned that type of bullying yet, and Year 12s are usually over it for the most part. It's the middle years - 9-14 - that are the worst for that kind of teasing.
However, it may also be that the bullying situation has changed significantly since I was at school. In the 1980s the prevailing adult wisdom was that "a bit of teasing" (no matter how bad the bullying was) never hurt anyone, and that it was easier to enforce a "no dobbing" rule than it was to enforce a "no bullying" rule. Since the mid-1990s I've seen massive changes in this attitude so it's quite possible that the kind of targeted bullying that children of my era had to endure has now been significantly reduced in schools.
*shrugs* Either way, I'd still be self-conscious about naming a daughter Jemima because my response to it is "rag doll"!
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
I'm not surprised that neither the 6-year-old or the Year 12 Jemima currently get teased - 6-year-olds usually haven't learned that type of bullying yet, and Year 12s are usually over it for the most part. It's the middle years - 9-14 - that are the worst for that kind of teasing.
However, it may also be that the bullying situation has changed significantly since I was at school. In the 1980s the prevailing adult wisdom was that "a bit of teasing" (no matter how bad the bullying was) never hurt anyone, and that it was easier to enforce a "no dobbing" rule than it was to enforce a "no bullying" rule. Since the mid-1990s I've seen massive changes in this attitude so it's quite possible that the kind of targeted bullying that children of my era had to endure has now been significantly reduced in schools.
*shrugs* Either way, I'd still be self-conscious about naming a daughter Jemima because my response to it is "rag doll"!
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
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Jemima is definitely a nice name. My dh and I have both commented that it's a shame that Jemima has been ruined in the US by the pancake/syrup products. The nns Jem, Jemi and Mimi are cute too. You know, you've given me an idea for my next cat! I tend to name them more whimsically than I do my children (sort of my creative outlet). ;-)
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I've always loved the name. As a kid, I saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and fell in love with the character's name. Then I recalled Beatrix Potter's character Jemima Puddleduck.
Sadly, I think the name is unusable here in the U.S. It's not that it is too syrup-y. It's that "Aunt Jemima" is synonymous to many people with "Uncle Tom." I wish it weren't so, but I have to respect others' feelings.
But if Jemima enjoyed a revival in the UK, I'd be tickled pink.
Sadly, I think the name is unusable here in the U.S. It's not that it is too syrup-y. It's that "Aunt Jemima" is synonymous to many people with "Uncle Tom." I wish it weren't so, but I have to respect others' feelings.
But if Jemima enjoyed a revival in the UK, I'd be tickled pink.
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