It is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Jemima is  dove . Biblical: eldest of the three daughters of Job (see also Keren and Kezia), renowned as the most beautiful women of their time. The name has been recorded from the early 1700s in England.
(Tom Colburn / Houston Chronicle). (R-L) actor Patrick Swayze, his mother Patsy Swayze and his wife Lisa Haapaniemi (aka Niemi) dance at Patsy Swayze's dance studio in Houston in 1978. (Tom Colburn / Houston Chronicle).
'The worst thing about Patrick was the drinking': Swayze's widow talks about lowest point of their 34-year marriage. Patrick Swayze's widow Lisa Niemi has lifted the lid on their marriage and revealed how she walked out on him because of his alcoholism. She says the star of Dirty Dancing and Point Break, who died last September of pancreatic cancer aged 57, totally changed changed character when he hit the bottle.