The baby name Clementine drips with vintage charm.
Thanks to Elisabeth and Zoe for suggesting today’s Baby Name of the Day.
ANCIENT
In the early days of Christianity, several early church leaders took the name Clement, including Pope St. Clement I. It may be derived from a family name – St. Clement of Alexandria, for example, was born Titus Flavius Clemens.
Clement comes from the Latin for mild or gentle.
Early feminine forms ranged from Clementia to Clemencia to Clemence. All of the Clem- names fell out of of favor during the Reformation, but Clement made a comeback in the nineteenth century. The baby name Clementine emerged as the preferred English feminine form around the same time.
REGAL CLEMENTINE
The nineteenth century gives us two princesses by the name.
First was Princess Clementine of Orleans, born to Louis-Phillipe, King of the French, in 1817.
Then there’s Princess Clementine of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, born in 1872. Clementine married Prince Victor Napoleon in 1910. Had history turned out differently, she might have become Empress of France. The romance between the princess and the pretender to the throne was widely reported.
Aristocratic Clementines follow, but the name hasn’t been used much in royal circles in more recent years.
OH MY DARLING
In the 1880s, in the American West, Percy Montrose penned the lyrics to Oh My Darling, Clementine, a mournful ballad about a lovely girl who meets a sorry fate. Odds are you know the refrain; it’s been a staple ever since.
It’s not the last time Clementine would feature in a song title. Bobby Darin recorded “Clementine” in 1960. It’s awfully mean-spirited by today’s standards. But then there’s Halsey’s quirky and fierce “Clementine” from 2019 … but we’ll come back to that song.
What we know is this: in 1880, the first year for which Social Security data are available, the baby name Clementine ranked in the Top 400 most popular names for girls born in the US – not Mary, but more popular than Ava or Abigail by 1880 standards.
Plenty of influences led to Montrose’s song. Maybe one of those includes the reason for the name, or maybe it was simply a reasonable choice for the era.
EDIBLE CLEMENTINE
All of this – the popes, the princesses, the “Oh my Darling” lyrics – predate a familiar use of Clementine.
That would be the citrus fruit.
After all, we’re still talking about Gwyneth Paltrow’s decision to name her daughter Apple.
In 1902, Brother Clement Rodier discovered a hybrid fruit growing the gardens of his orphanage in Algeria, then a French colony. The new fruit was part sweet orange, part mandarin.
Rodier dubbed the new fruit a clementine, and a few years later they made their way to the US.
While the name’s status as a snack might detract for some, it’s worth noting that we routinely name our children Olive and Sage, too.
LADY CHURCHILL
Clementine Churchill, wife to British prime minister Winston, was born well before the citrus fruit became widely known, in 1885.
Born to an aristocratic family, Clementine Ogilvy Hozier married Winston in 1908. She was known for her leadership in the Red Cross and YWCA during the wars, and as a steadfast and loyal partner to her husband.
She’s also the best-known Clementine of the twentieth century.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE
By the 1950s, this name had exited the US Top 1000.
From the 1960s into the early 2000s, the name hovered on the edge of extinction.
So what changed?
Kate Winslet played Clementine in 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
The sci fi romance was lauded by critics, and earned Winslet a Best Actress Oscar nomination. It’s often mentioned on best-of lists, and cited by the others as influential. Halsey’s song “Clementine” is a nod to Kate Winslet’s character.
No surprise there’s a tiny bump in the name’s use, from 19 births in 2003 to 59 by 2005.
RISING FAVORITE
Celebrities embraced the baby name Clementine in the following years. Claudia Schiffer was among the first; Ethan Hawke also welcomed a daughter by the name in the years after the movie’s release.
By 2014, the name had returned to the US Top 1000. It ranked #685 as of the 2018.
And why not? Clementine remains ripe for revival – sweet and slightly old-fashioned, worn by princesses and historical figures, with a great meaning, too. The baby name Clementine boasts a ready-made lullaby and color palette. It’s a name with depth, character, and charm.
Would you consider Clementine for a daughter?
Originally published on May 19, 2008, this post was revised on March 11, 2013 and again on June 17, 2020.
Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
I have a 2 1/2 year old named Clementine, and I absolutely love the name. My maiden name was Clemens, so there was a family connection for me. We do not know any other Clementines. Funny – I never felt a hipster connection because of all the other connections to history and the world.
A beautiful name for a beautiful girl! We call her Clem and Tine but mostly Clem.
Clementine is (excuse the pun) just darling! There’s an old-fashioned sweetness to her that I think the type of parents who also love Eliza and Ivy, for example, would be attracted to.
The fruit are just sold here as mandarins, so we don’t have any food issues with the name. Little wonder she’s back in fashion.
I love Cleo but dislike the shortness of it. I wish mightily I was Cleo instead of Lola. I’ve wanted to be Cleo since I was a tiny tot. Clementine nn Cleo has been a favorite of mine for years, because of her Cleo potential. 😀
I love the freshness of Clementine and her length & style. If only He didn’t do “Huckleberry Hound” every time I bring her up. I’m keeping Clementine/Cleo on my ‘in case’ list, but I’m not holding my breath.
Clementine is one of those names filed under “I would use this in a heartbeat if my husband didn’t have a say.” Cleo and Minnie are fabulous nicknames, and I love the reference to the fruit.
I love Clementine! Love, love, love it. I normally wouldn’t go for something with such a strong hipster vibe, but the virtue aspect of Clementine saves it. She’s a fruit, a song, a royal, a virtue, and is spunky with great nicknames (Clea, Cleo, Minnie, Teeny, Tiny, etc.). Thumbs up for Clementine!
If we didn’t have Moses at the top of our list, my favorite combo with Clementine is Zipporah Clementine Elaine. I love Clemency too, but I’m not in love with -ee endings on girl names. Clement on a boy makes me swoon but the pronunciation trips me up too much to use it on a real kid.
The nickname Tiny pretty much puts this name on my list, that and the fact that my husband loves Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
My name nerd credentials are in serious jeopardy every time I say this, but I hate Clementine. It’s over the top and ridiculous to me, not to mention an eye-roll worthy level of hipster, especially when the last syllable rhymes with “mine” rather than “mean.” Perhaps I’m just not classy enough. But Clementine does have a massive fan base among certain groups and it’s better than Nevaeh, so to each his own.
I had to share your comment with my sister. .she hated and made fun of the name clementine the second I told her that was what I was naming my daughter. ..shortly after clementine was born I saw this n showed my sister right away, too bad I was on speaker n my niece nevaeh overheard…she never bashed the name again! Lol
This has become my favorite name over the past few years. I love everything about it.
Abby, there is a feisty Clementine in the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, played by Kate Winslet. That increases the appeal for me, otherwise it seems like one of those manic pixie-dream girl names. I like it, though! Feminine but not frilly, and definitely unusual. The nickname Cleo is awesome too.
I’ve been in love with this name for a while but only just started seriously considering it for a future girl. I don’t like many of the nicknames for it because I really love the full name but I’m thinking with young kids, we’d had to come up with something easier. Do you think Minnie is too far off? I can’t help but smile when I picture myself introducing my daughters, Bay and Clementine. Too cute!
I love Minnie as a nickname for this!
That’s a great idea!
Thanks Sarah A.! I appreciate the time it took to not only find my comment but also the time it took to post a reply. Now to show this to Him! 😀
No problem Lola, that’s why I love the ‘most recent comments’ part of this site. It ensures that even if you post about an older NotD, people can still easily find it. Good luck convincing your hubby about Clementine, it really is a beautiful name that manages to be both familiar but rare.