Clemence

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Clemence

Say it: KLEM-unss

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From Latin clementia 'mercy, mildness'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Kind

Used in medieval England and France both as a name and as the virtue it names.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

02040608018801900192019401960198020002020Girls 1901Boys 1904per million babies of that sex
  • 934 babies given this name since 1886
  • At its height in 1904, about 1 in 27,500 girls
  • 10 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  2. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

EnglishFrench

The family of the name

Other spellings: Clemencia, Clemency

LatinClementia
FrenchClémence
ItalianClemenza
EnglishClemency

Famous bearers

  • Clémence of Hungary, queen of France

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Medieval European charters and records
  • English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
  • Royal and noble genealogies
  • National birth statistics of European countries source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.