What do you think of this name?
[name]Do[/name] you think it’s usable in the US? (I live in NYC)
I would be using the accent and French pronunciation. My name has an accent and I used it growing up in [name]Maine[/name] without issues so that part doesn’t bother me.
I love Clémence, [name]Colombe[/name], [name]Clotilde[/name], etc… I dont think you will have too many problems with the accent on Clémence but you never know. I think Clémence came up on a blog post and a few people related it to [name]Clemency[/name] and prison so they didnt like it, but some of those people liked [name]Cosette[/name] which goes to show that international names often pose interesting issues.
Edited because I think my original response might have been a little snarky so I apologize and wanted to add: I could forsee some pronunciation problems in the future but I think the other posters are right, its not the hardest french pronunciation to get down and lots of people esp in international cities like NYC have diverse names so I still think its very usable. You might have to correct people a few times but if you love the name I would go for it!
I don’t like it very much, but that’s because of the sound of it with the French pronunciation. I don’t care so much about the relation to [name]Clemency[/name] as you could get that from [name]Clementine[/name] too if you thought about it.
As for pronunciation issues, I would think that anyone who doesn’t already know how French pronunciations work wouldn’t know how to say this properly until you told them. I don’t know anything about how to pronounce French words and was saying it as it looks. I had to look up how to say it with the French accent.
I think, though, once you told enough people, that you wouldn’t have much of an issue. It’s not the most complicated pronunciation.
I don’t like it very much, but that’s because of the sound of it with the French pronunciation. I don’t care so much about the relation to [name]Clemency[/name] as you could get that from [name]Clementine[/name] too if you thought about it.
As for pronunciation issues, I would think that anyone who doesn’t already know how French pronunciations work wouldn’t know how to say this properly until you told them. I don’t know anything about how to pronounce French words and was saying it as it looks. I had to look up how to say it with the French accent.
I think, though, once you told enough people, that you wouldn’t have much of an issue. It’s not the most complicated pronunciation.
I think living in NYC you wouldn’t have any issues at all, and of course, in [name]Maine[/name]/New [name]England[/name], there is still the strong French Canadian influence. [name]Clemence[/name] (my laptop won’t do the accents in these posts) is a beautiful name. So is [name]Clemency[/name], for that matter, and I have never made an association with prisons before (lol). At my first job in NYC, my co-workers were: Francoise, [name]Katia[/name], Generosa, [name]Jorge[/name], [name]Manuel[/name], Bilin, [name]Marina[/name], and [name]Georg[/name], and no one had any problems anywhere. What would be her middle name?
I love this name, and I don’t think there would be too many issues with the pronunciation in most parts of the US.
[name]Love[/name] [name]Love[/name] [name]Clemence[/name]; it sounds beautiful in french. I think it translates over well, and will not be difficult to say. I live in NYC too and I see no problems, except for the usual initial corrections that many names here have as many are quite international.
I think Clémence is chic, sophisticated, romantic, lovely and oh so French! I definitely think it’s usable in the US and encourage you to choose it!
thetxbelle - [name]Don[/name]'t worry, I didn’t find it snarky! I meant honest when i put it in the title 
I actually like [name]Colombe[/name] as well (and great meaning!) but to many people in the US find it similar to [name]Columbine[/name]. This happens to be a name I adore but my SO is not on board with so I’m really seeing if people can sway us one way or the other on it, so really, I appreciate all thoughts on it!
dantea - I actually love [name]Clementine[/name]! It’s on our long list as well. I actually knew a girl with this name in [name]France[/name] growing up, and I love it in general. I think it has a very happy sunny feel to it. Also my SO and I have a special link to the movie “eternal sunshine of the spotless mind” and I think that would be a sweet association for us. I do get that French is not intuitive - it’s a rare occurrence for anyone to say my name correctly the first time in the US. I just know some sounds are harder than others and I’m not always aware of which ones…well, besides the French r which seems to trip everyone up.
miloowen - Thank you for the thoughts! I’m not actually pregnant yet so we haven’t moved on to middle names. Oddly we have them picked out if we have a boy, but that’s mostly because my SO strongly wants to honor his father, but with girls it’s much more open so I think we’ll settle on a first name first and then see what we like with it. And I agree, NYC is such a mishmash of cultures it can feel very liberating sometimes when thinking of names!
I’m actually surprised by the general positive feeling it’s creating - thanks for the lovely responses!