Clementine
A feminine name derived from the French word for "merciful, clement".
Name Census estimates that about 7,976 living Americans carry the first name Clementine. It sits at #477 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Clementine today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clementine births was 2024 (645 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clementine. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Clementine with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.0K
~ 1 in 42,973 Americans
Peak year
2024
645 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#477
Tracked since 1880
Census
Clementine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,940 people with the first name Clementine, which placed it at #3,491 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,491
National first-name rank
People counted
5.9K
5,940 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clementine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clementine is White at 53.7%. The next largest groups are Black (28.1%) and Hispanic (9.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Clementine described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Clementine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.7% · 3,190
- Black or African American28.1% · 1,667
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 563
- Two or more races5.5% · 326
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 144
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 50
Popularity
Clementine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clementine from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,970 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clementine by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Clementine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clementines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, New York, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Clementine, while West Virginia, Alaska, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 191 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clementine
The name Clementine is a feminine given name of French origin, derived from the Late Latin name Clementina, which is the feminine form of the masculine name Clemens, meaning "merciful" or "gentle." The name's roots can be traced back to the Roman cognomen Clemens, which was a nickname given to individuals who exhibited qualities of gentleness and clemency.
The name Clementine gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in France, where it was associated with the Christian martyr Saint Clementine, who lived in the 3rd century. Saint Clementine was believed to have been a member of a noble Roman family and was martyred for her Christian faith during the persecutions under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Clementine can be found in the 12th century, when it was used by the wife of King Louis VII of France, Clementine of Auxerre. Another notable historical figure with this name was Clementine of Hungary, a 13th century princess who later became a Franciscan nun.
In the 16th century, the name Clementine gained further prominence when it was adopted by Clementine de Valois, the daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. She was a prominent figure at the French court and played a significant role in the religious and political conflicts of her time.
Another famous Clementine in history was Clementine Churchill, the wife of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Born in 1885, she was a talented artist and played a crucial role in supporting her husband during his political career.
Other notable figures named Clementine include:
1. Clementine Delait (1865-1939), a French feminist and women's rights activist.
2. Clementine Paddleford (1898-1967), an American food writer and journalist.
3. Clementine Hunter (1886-1988), an African American folk artist known for her vibrant paintings depicting life in the rural American South.
4. Clementine Ogilvy Spencer-Churchill (1920-2021), a British aristocrat and the wife of Sir Winston Churchill's nephew.
5. Clementine von Radics (1835-1921), an Austrian writer and activist for women's rights and education.
The name Clementine has endured throughout history, carrying connotations of gentleness, mercy, and elegance, making it a timeless and captivating choice for parents seeking a name with rich cultural and historical significance.
People
Clementine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clementine as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Clementine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clementine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,976 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clementine going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 42,973 US residents.
Is Clementine a common name?
We classify Clementine as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,993 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clementine most popular?
The single biggest year for Clementine was 2024, when 645 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clementine is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clementine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,940 people with the name Clementine, or 1.97 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,491 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Clementine in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Clementine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clementine appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,942 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Clementine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clementine is White at 53.7%. The next largest groups are Black (28.1%) and Hispanic (9.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Clementine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Clementine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.7% (3,190 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Clementine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clementine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clementine in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Clementine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clementine in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Clementine can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Clementine?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.