| Clemence | Esperance | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Mercy | hope |
| Origin | French | french |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | kleh-MAHNS | es-peh-RAHNS |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1886 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1917 (20) | 2025 (8) |
| In 2025 | 9 | 0 |
| Trend | Rising | Steady |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Clemence | Esperance |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 42 | 23 |
| 2010s | 60 | 0 |
| 2000s | 16 | 0 |
| 1990s | 5 | 0 |
| 1940s | 6 | 0 |
| 1930s | 25 | 0 |
| 1920s | 94 | 5 |
| 1910s | 126 | 5 |
| 1900s | 90 | 0 |
| 1890s | 73 | 0 |
| 1880s | 11 | 0 |
Clémence comes from the Latin for “mercy” or “clemency.”
A French (and Old French) name meaning 'hope', from Latin 'sperantia' / 'sperare' ('to hope'). It also saw some medieval English use as a virtue name.
Clemence is more popular than Esperance today: about 9 US babies were given the name Clemence in 2025, compared with 0 named Esperance.
Clemence means Mercy (French origin), while Esperance means hope (french origin).
In US records, Clemence first appears in 1886 and Esperance in 0, so Esperance has the longer recorded history.