How popular is Gemma? Gemma is a very popular first name for females (#1711 out of 4276, Top 40%) and also a very popular surname for both adults and children (#28049 out of 150436, Top 19%). (2000 U.S. CENSUS)
Chomsky and Gould hypothesize that language may have evolved simply because the physical structure of the brain evolved, or because cognitive structures that were used for things like tool making or rule learning were also good for complex communication.
By 750 AD Old English had evolved into a distinct language separate from the original speech of the Angles and Saxons. Of the 1000 most frequently used words today 83% are of Old English origin. Of our remaining vocabulary about 30% are Anglo-Saxon survivals.