Clement

Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KLE-ment  

From the Late Latin name Clemens which meant "merciful, gentle". This was the name of 14 popes, including Saint Clement I, the third pope, one of the Apostolic Fathers. Another saint named Clement was Saint Clement of Alexandria, a theologian and church father who attempted to reconcile Christian and Platonic philosophies.

English, French, and Dutch: from the Latin personal name Clemens meaning ‘merciful’ (genitive Clementis). This achieved popularity firstly through having been borne by an early saint who was a disciple of St. Paul, and later because it was selected as a symbolic name by a number of early popes. There has also been some confusion with the personal name Clemence (Latin Clementia, meaning ‘mercy’, an abstract noun derived from the adjective; in part a masculine name from Latin Clementius, a later derivative of Clemens). As an American family name, Clement has absorbed cognates in other continental European languages. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.)

GIVEN NAMES: French 4%. Pierre (7), Alcide (4), Alphonse (3), Andre (3), Marcel (3), Oneil (3), Armand (2), Cecile (2), Christophe (2), Gaston (2), Olivier (2), Aime.

See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.