Lem

Where Lem comes from

Lem hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #526 among boys — 12 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1883
    Peak, #337
    24 babies named Lem — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1884
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #547.
  4. 1911
    Lem Overpeck born
    American politician
  5. 1959
    Lem Dobbs born
    British-American screenwriter
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Lem Dobbs · British-American screenwriter, born 1959
  • Lem Overpeck · American politician, 1911–2003

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.