A spelling variant of Remy, from the Latin-based name of the Remi people of Gaul.
Remmy traces its lineage most directly to the French Rémy, a name derived from the Latin Remigius — meaning "oarsman" or "one who rows," from the root remex. The image is unexpectedly vivid: a name whose deepest meaning is the physical labor of moving a vessel through water, of propulsion and navigation. Saint Remigius of Reims (438–533 AD) was among the most consequential figures in European history, baptizing Clovis I, king of the Franks, in 496 AD — an event that effectively converted a royal line to Christianity and reshaped the religious and political geography of medieval Europe.
The city of Reims, its cathedral, and its coronation traditions all carry Remigius's fingerprints. Rémy as a given name has been warmly maintained in France for centuries, and the French city of Reims remains a site of pilgrimage partly in his honor. In the English-speaking world, the name gained fresh cultural currency through an unlikely ambassador: Remy, the rat protagonist of Pixar's Ratatouille (2007), whose passion for haute cuisine and refusal to accept the limits placed on him made his name synonymous with aspiration, creativity, and the delightful subversion of expectations.
For a generation of parents, the name arrived pre-associated with intelligence, warmth, and an irrepressible inner life. The Remmy spelling — with its doubled M — softens the name's French formality and gives it a more playful, approachable quality. It has become increasingly gender-neutral in American usage, with both boys and girls wearing it comfortably. Parents drawn to Remmy often describe wanting a name that feels vintage without being stuffy, familiar without being common — a name with a wink built into it.