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.
No one can say at which point English became a separate language from the different Germanic dialects but it would have changed quickly as people of different tribes tried to communicate with each other. The waves of new languages that spread over the British Isles greatly broadened the English vocabulary.