Lema
A surname of uncertain origin, with older scholarship suggesting it may preserve a short personal name or diminutive form.
The #8,439 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 78,903 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The older dictionaries do not give a fully secure derivation for Lema. One source connects it with a Frisian-looking name element seen in forms such as Talma, and treats it as part of a family of short, clipped personal-name forms or diminutives. Other mentions simply list Lema among surnames without explaining its source, so the safest conclusion is that its exact origin remains uncertain.
History
Lema appears in surname lists from Iberian and other European contexts, but the excerpts provided do not establish a single agreed origin. Because the name is brief and can also resemble place-name or nickname formations, it may have arisen independently in more than one region. In modern records it is especially found as a rare surname in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is rare in the U.S., with only a few thousand bearers in the 2010 census.
From the historical record
“is found in the name of the well-known tragedian Talma, which corresponds with the Friesic Tial- LEMA and TiALMA. Among English names we have Jessmay, Whitmee, Ivymey, and Wakem, which seem to be from this origin, and to correspond with the ancient names Gisoma, Widomia, Ivamus, and ^ DIMINUTIVES. 25”
— The Teutonic Name-System applied to the family names of France, England and Germany