Head to head · Girls' names
Clementine vs Elisa
#456 vs #458 in 2025
Clementine is a whisker ahead (#456 vs #458 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Clementine is back after a long quiet spell, Elisa is holding its place on the charts.
Each name in full: Clementine · Elisa
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 3 measures of 6; Elisa 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
Clementine — back after a long quiet spell. About 9,100 people named Clementine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Elisa — holding its place on the charts. About 42,500 people named Elisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Clementine #485, Elisa #707 — Clementine higher
- 1890s: Clementine #530, Elisa #878 — Clementine higher
- 1900s: Clementine #574, Elisa #802 — Clementine higher
- 1910s: Clementine #533, Elisa #799 — Clementine higher
- 1920s: Clementine #639, Elisa #686 — Clementine higher
- 1930s: Clementine #690, Elisa #658 — Elisa higher
- 1940s: Clementine #838, Elisa #776 — Elisa higher
- 1950s: Clementine #1064, Elisa #581 — Elisa higher
- 1960s: Clementine #2721, Elisa #377 — Elisa higher
- 1970s: Clementine #6751, Elisa #368 — Elisa higher
- 1980s: Clementine #7680, Elisa #355 — Elisa higher
- 1990s: Clementine #8179, Elisa #456 — Elisa higher
- 2000s: Clementine #4107, Elisa #541 — Elisa higher
- 2010s: Clementine #998, Elisa #476 — Elisa higher
- 2020s: Clementine #531, Elisa #442 — Elisa higher
Elisa stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Elisa has held the lead since the 1930s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Clementine | Elisa |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #485 | #707 |
| 1890s | #530 | #878 |
| 1900s | #574 | #802 |
| 1910s | #533 | #799 |
| 1920s | #639 | #686 |
| 1930s | #690 | #658 |
| 1940s | #838 | #776 |
| 1950s | #1064 | #581 |
| 1960s | #2721 | #377 |
| 1970s | #6751 | #368 |
| 1980s | #7680 | #355 |
| 1990s | #8179 | #456 |
| 2000s | #4107 | #541 |
| 2010s | #998 | #476 |
| 2020s | #531 | #442 |
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
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.
Elisa
My God is an oath — that is, a promise sworn by God
Elisa is a shortened form of Elizabeth, from Hebrew Elisheva. The first element is God; the second, shevaʿ, is read as "oath" in the standard rendering, though "abundance" is sometimes offered for the same root.
Elisheva → Elisabet → Elisabeth → Elisabetta → Elisa
How it traveled
The name behind Elisa is Elisheva, borne in the Hebrew Bible by the wife of Aaron. Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures rendered it Elisabet, and from there Latin Elisabeth spread across Christian Europe, growing a different short form in nearly every language it touched — Isabel in Spain, Elise in France, Elsa in the north, Elisa in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany.
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
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.
Elisa
eh-LEE-sah
English speakers often soften it to ih-LEE-suh. In Italian and much of German usage the s is voiced, closer to eh-LEE-zah. All are accepted; a family usually just picks one and repeats it.
- Lisa — The most familiar short form in English, and long established as a given name in its own right, so it reads as a full name to many people.
- Eli — Informal; in the United States it also stands alone as a boy's name, which can cause a double take in writing.
- Ellie — Informal, widely used across the whole Eli-/Ella- family and independently popular as a given name.
- Isa — Common in Spanish- and Italian-speaking households, used affectionately at home more than on paper.
- Also Lise.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Clementine if you want…
- a name on the way upup 145 places on the charts in five years
Choose Elisa if you want…
- a name holding steadyElisa is holding its place on the charts
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
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.
Elisa
Strengths
- Spelled the same in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German, so it crosses borders without needing to be adapted or re-spelled.
- Comes with ready-made short forms — Lisa, Ellie, Eli, Isa — none of which had to be invented.
- Traces an unbroken line back through Elisabeth to the Hebrew Elisheva, one of the oldest continuously used names in Europe.
To consider
- It lives in a crowded street: Elise, Eliza, Elissa, Alisa and Alyssa all sound close, and people will guess wrong. Expect to spell it over the phone fairly often.
- The stressed vowel shifts by language — eh-LEE-sah, ih-LEE-suh, eh-LEE-zah — so the same child may hear her name three ways in a bilingual family or on a trip abroad.
- Lisa, the most natural short form, is strongly represented among older generations, and some families would rather steer toward Ellie or Isa instead.
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 Clementine and Elisa 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 Clementine and Elisa?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
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 Clementine and Elisa each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Clementine or Elisa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Clementine or Elisa?
- Clementine, in 2025: Clementine ranked #456 with 676 babies; Elisa ranked #458 with 674 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Clementine or Elisa?
- Clementine. Over the last five years Clementine moved up 145 places; Elisa moved up 53 places.
- Which is the older name, Clementine or Elisa?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Clementine and Elisa?
- About 9,100 people named Clementine are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 42,500 people named Elisa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Clementines or Elisas in the classroom?
- Clementine will almost certainly be the only one in school. Elisa 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Clementine, Elisa and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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