Head to head · Girls' names
Camryn vs Clementine
#476 vs #456 in 2025
Clementine is a whisker ahead (#456 vs #476 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Clementine is back after a long quiet spell, Camryn is stepping back from its peak.
Each name in full: Camryn · Clementine
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Clementine leads 4 measures of 6; Camryn leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Camryn — stepping back from its peak. About 30,500 people named Camryn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Clementine — back after a long quiet spell. About 9,100 people named Clementine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Camryn —, Clementine #485 — Clementine higher
- 1890s: Camryn —, Clementine #530 — Clementine higher
- 1900s: Camryn —, Clementine #574 — Clementine higher
- 1910s: Camryn —, Clementine #533 — Clementine higher
- 1920s: Camryn —, Clementine #639 — Clementine higher
- 1930s: Camryn —, Clementine #690 — Clementine higher
- 1940s: Camryn —, Clementine #838 — Clementine higher
- 1950s: Camryn —, Clementine #1064 — Clementine higher
- 1960s: Camryn —, Clementine #2721 — Clementine higher
- 1970s: Camryn #8418, Clementine #6751 — Clementine higher
- 1980s: Camryn #8891, Clementine #7680 — Clementine higher
- 1990s: Camryn #2085, Clementine #8179 — Camryn higher
- 2000s: Camryn #233, Clementine #4107 — Camryn higher
- 2010s: Camryn #374, Clementine #998 — Camryn higher
- 2020s: Camryn #444, Clementine #531 — Camryn higher
Clementine stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Camryn has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Camryn | Clementine |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #485 |
| 1890s | — | #530 |
| 1900s | — | #574 |
| 1910s | — | #533 |
| 1920s | — | #639 |
| 1930s | — | #690 |
| 1940s | — | #838 |
| 1950s | — | #1064 |
| 1960s | — | #2721 |
| 1970s | #8418 | #6751 |
| 1980s | #8891 | #7680 |
| 1990s | #2085 | #8179 |
| 2000s | #233 | #4107 |
| 2010s | #374 | #998 |
| 2020s | #444 | #531 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Camryn
from the Scottish surname Cameron, most often read as "crooked nose"
The Highland clan name is usually traced to Gaelic cam sròn, "crooked nose" — a nickname for an ancestor. A second reading points to cam brùn, "crooked hill", which would make it a place name rather than a personal description. Both are seriously argued, and the surname may in fact combine two unrelated families.
cam sròn (Gaelic) → Cameron → Camron → Camryn
How it traveled
Cameron began as a Scottish surname, borne by one of the Highland clans, and like many Scottish surnames it moved into the given-name column in the English-speaking world — first for boys, then, from the middle of the twentieth century onward, for girls as well. American parents who wanted the girls' side to be unmistakable reshaped the ending, and Camryn is the result: the same name with the middle syllable pressed out and -yn in place of -on.
Clementine
mild, merciful, gentle
From the Latin clemens; Clementine is the French feminine of Clement, the name borne by a long line of popes.
Clemens → Clement → Clément → Clémentine → Clementine
How it traveled
The root is the Latin adjective clemens, 'mild' or 'merciful', which gave the Roman name Clemens and then the Christian name Clement — used by popes from late antiquity onward. French added the feminine ending to make Clémentine, and from French it passed into English, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish, each with its own spelling.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Camryn
KAM-rin
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some speakers stretch it toward the three-syllable KAM-er-in, following Cameron; the two-syllable version is what the spelling is designed to signal.
- Cam — The standard short form, informal, and also given as a name in its own right to both boys and girls.
- Cammy — Informal and affectionate, more common within families than outside them.
- Ryn — Informal, drawn from the second syllable; used occasionally rather than by default.
Clementine
KLEM-en-teen
Both KLEM-en-teen and KLEM-en-tine (rhyming with 'wine') are in real use; the ballad and the fruit both favor -teen in American English, so expect to state your preference once or twice.
- Clem — The oldest short form; also used for men named Clement, so it reads either way.
- Clemmie — Informal and affectionate, long established in British and American use.
- Tina — Taken from the ending; a standalone given name in its own right.
- Clemmy — Spelling variant of Clemmie, same informal use.
- Also Emmie.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Camryn if you want…
- a name fewer children share#476 in 2025 — camryn will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsCamryn is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesCamryn is 2 syllables to Clementine's 3
- a newer arrivalCamryn entered the US charts in 1974
Choose Clementine if you want…
- a name most people already know#456 in 2025, 676 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 145 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itClementine runs 3 syllables, Camryn 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Clem, Clemmie and Tina
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Camryn
Strengths
- Rests on Cameron, a name nearly everyone already knows, so it is understood on first hearing even by people meeting it for the first time.
- Comes with Cam ready-made — a short form already in independent use, so it needs no inventing.
- Two clean syllables with the stress up front, which makes it carry well when called across a room.
To consider
- The spelling will need saying aloud. Camryn, Kamryn, Kameron, Camron and Cameron all sound close, and forms will sometimes come back with the wrong one.
- The -yn respelling belongs to a particular stretch of American naming, and the name is now easing back from its high point — it may read as of its moment rather than timeless.
- The likeliest meaning, "crooked nose", is a nickname for a long-dead Highlander rather than something flattering. It is a common fate for surname-names, and few people ever ask.
Clementine
Strengths
- A meaning that is not in dispute: mild, merciful, from Latin clemens.
- On the American record continuously since national statistics began — a genuinely old name rather than a recent coinage.
- Spelling almost nobody has to be taught, thanks to the fruit and the song.
To consider
- The song is a comic lament in which Clementine drowns — 'dreadful sorry, Clementine'. Most people only remember the tune, but somebody will sing it at her.
- She will share her name with a supermarket fruit. That makes the spelling easy and the teasing predictable, roughly in equal measure.
- Four syllables asks something of forms, signatures and roll calls, though the short forms take over quickly in practice.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Camryn and Clementine in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Camryn and Clementine?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- The longest comebacks in the records
- all guides
Where Camryn and Clementine each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Camryn or Clementine — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Camryn or Clementine?
- Clementine, in 2025: Clementine ranked #456 with 676 babies; Camryn ranked #476 with 644 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Camryn or Clementine?
- Clementine. Over the last five years Camryn moved down 69 places; Clementine moved up 145 places.
- Which is the older name, Camryn or Clementine?
- Camryn entered the US charts in 1974; Clementine was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Clementine is the older name.
- How many people are named Camryn and Clementine?
- About 30,500 people named Camryn are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,100 people named Clementine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Camryns or Clementines in the classroom?
- Camryn will almost certainly be the only one in school. Clementine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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