I have recently become a fan of the HBO show “Flight of the Conchords”, which has a main character from New Zealand named Jemaine, like [name]Jermaine[/name] without the R. Being the name junkie that I am, I have tried to find info on this name, but keep getting the “did you mean [name]Jermaine[/name]?” prompt! The more time I spend trying to find any information on it, the more curious I’m getting!
Is this name common/known in NZ, or is it simply made-up or spelled wrong?
I’ve certainly never heard of it outside FOTC, and I’m from NZ. We have the same sprinkling of bizarre names as any other country ([name]Tallulah[/name] Does The Hula In [name]Hawaii[/name], for example) but I don’t think Jemaine is particularly common!
I’ve certainly never heard of it outside FOTC, and I’m from NZ. We have the same sprinkling of bizarre names as any other country ([name]Tallulah[/name] Does The Hula In [name]Hawaii[/name], for example) but I don’t think Jemaine is particularly common!
I’ve certainly never heard of it outside FOTC, and I’m from NZ. We have the same sprinkling of bizarre names as any other country ([name]Tallulah[/name] Does The Hula In [name]Hawaii[/name], for example) but I don’t think Jemaine is particularly common!
I’ve certainly never heard of it outside FOTC, and I’m from NZ. We have the same sprinkling of bizarre names as any other country ([name]Tallulah[/name] Does The Hula In [name]Hawaii[/name], for example) but I don’t think Jemaine is particularly common!
I’ve lived in NZ for the past 3 years and have worked in a school and as a workplace health and safety educator (at different workplaces each day which means I would get to know the names of between 50-150 people per week) and have never heard Jemaine…although I’ve heard plenty of other crackers!
Out of curiousity I did some research and found this:
Gender: [name]Male[/name]
Origin: French
Meaning: The French name Jemaine means - a form of [name]Germain[/name] whic I believe means sprout or bud.
**Also, from interview with Jemaine…
SG: What happened to the R in your name?
JC: When my mom had me, she was 17 and it was in the mid ”70s at the height of [name]Jackson[/name] 5 fever. I think she may have even been to a [name]Jackson[/name] 5 concert sometime before she knew she was pregnant with me. So I was kind of named after [name]Jermaine[/name] [name]Jackson[/name] and my parents didn”t want me to be called Jerm in school, so they took the R out. In New Zealand you don”t really say your Rs.
Thanks for the info!! That answered my question! The interview quote was pretty great - I hadn’t heard that one!
FOTC are amazing musicians and hilarious actors! I was sad to hear that they turned down HBO’s offer for a 3rd season. I look forward to their next albums, though!