What do you think of Esclaremonde/Esclarmonde, the french variant of Clarimond. Nickname [name_f]Essie[/name_f] or [name_f]Clarie[/name_f]. 
It looks made up to me, like someone pulled a ā[name_f]Renesmee[/name_f]ā in real life. Not even sure how to say it. So, unless you live in [name_f]France[/name_f] or somewhere itās recognizable, I donāt like it at all.
I much prefer Clarimond(e), which I love. The āEscā sound isnāt attractive to me.
I wouldnāt use it but I donāt mind it on someone elseās kid.
I like [name_f]Emmanuelle[/name_f]/[name_f]Emmanuela[/name_f] or [name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f] more.
But I certainly like a good long guilty pleasure name. Esclaremonde would be great at making my little [name_f]Morrigan[/name_f]/[name_f]Viola[/name_f]/[name_f]Zephirine[/name_f] or [name_m]Peregrine[/name_m]/[name_m]Leonardo[/name_m]/Raziel blend with the roll-call. 
It is a consideration to honor the [name_m]French[/name_m] blood on the side of the family with the girl names; instead of the Norse on the other side of the family. We figured the boys could go by the Norse names, they sound all boy to my ears. The french names sound pretty, wispy, frilly and all girl to me. Thank you for the replies!
The nicknames are sweet.
I actually quite like it, itās certainly very whimsical and a nice name, especially to honour ancestry. As Iāve always known it itās been spelt Esclarmonde (no e in the middle) and it means ā[name_m]Light[/name_m] of the worldā which is nice, there is also an [name_f]Opera[/name_f] Esclarmonde. I like [name_f]Essie[/name_f] as a diminutive, but if one was to go with [name_u]Clare[/name_u] I would follow how it is spelt in the name and not include the i.
Lol. I agree it sounds a little made up, but the that factor aside, itās not bad. I donāt like the nickname [name_f]Essie[/name_f]. It sounds a little ditzy as a nickname for such an extravagant full name. I think [name_f]Clara[/name_f] would make a better nickname, honestly.
Ditto.
Esclaremonde seems overly complicated. There are so many [name_m]French[/name_m] names that are easier to pronounce (and spell). Why not go that route?
Thanks for the insight on the spelling. I was worried about the e in the middle part, but had seen it spelled that way. I didnāt want to leave it in case that way was MORE known.
This is exactly what I thought. It seems a bit over the top to me, but if youāre going to name your boys very Norse names, then a little [name_f]Bella[/name_f] or [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] or another well-known [name_m]French[/name_m] name will seem out of place. Granted, if I met one, I would roll my eyes a bit at it (sorry! just being honest), BUT I also donāt know its history, or didnāt before seeing ppās post, so it would be ignorant of me to do so. So if you can be okay with knowing those who think itās ridiculous might be ignorant while smiling and thanking them for their opinion, go for it.
Esclarmonde, IMHO, is not that long, only 11 letters long. It is only two letters longer than [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] or [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]. I havenāt met any [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]/[name_f]Catherine[/name_f] who complained about having 9 letters in there names. Maybe Iāve been lucky in that regards. So I hadnāt put much thought to length. lol, ā¦ Yes, It does āappearā clunky, but I think 2 extra letter is worth it for such a pretty name. Iām drawn to Esclarmonde much for the same reasons many nameberries are drawn to names on this site.
Here are my reasons for being attracted to Esclarmonde. It just meets all my criteria:
a.) unique and beautiful sounding
b.) Beautiful meaning
c.) rare in an archaic way,
d.) Honors the [name_m]French[/name_m] family without using repeats
e.) [name_m]History[/name_m] of use
f.) Historical Female role Model
g.) Used in literature
h.) Used in [name_f]Music[/name_f]/opera titles
i.) Phonetics are easy to pronounce
j.) Name is easy to spell
k.) Lastly, a BUNCH of viable shorter name options to go by until she is of an older age to say her whole name and of a reasonable age to choose to go by any shorten form of her choice. I like [name_f]Essie[/name_f] or Clarie and could see it come out of Esclarmonde.
- Thank you for all your HONEST replies!
I did not care for Esclarmonde at first. Than I read all the comments and honestly I really like it now. The āmondeā at the end was what I had a hard time with. The middle E that was there also through off the pronunciation for me. It is a gorgeous name that I now appreciate. I love the nicknames [name_f]Essie[/name_f], [name_f]Clari[/name_f], [name_u]Clare[/name_u], [name_f]Clara[/name_f]. She has so many options!!
In an everyday scenario, this might happen. I know people who who still say Im-a-jean instead of im-o-gen. I recognize that most people will not be like nameberries, and be familiar with its origins. It would be no different than choosing to name your child Scheherazade, [name_f]Autumn[/name_f], [name_u]Winter[/name_u], [name_f]Summer[/name_f] and [name_u]Nike[/name_u], which I recently had the please to meet on a few little kids and Adults. 
If there is NO bad association tied to the name, which no one has mentioned anything, I think we should be fine. also, We like the distinct difference between the boys and girls.
Yes, I was uncertain with the e too, but I agree it should be removed and spell it the much more refined way. The bundle nickname options is one of the many appealing factors of the name.
Iām not sure how to say the monde part but esclar sounds pretty and I like your nickname choices. I do like the spelling best without the extra e. It actually adds more character that way.
The difference is that when someone sees [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] or [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], they immediately know how to pronounce it. When someone sees Esclarmonde, they donāt. To many people, it will just look like a bunch of syllables thrown together.
Since it has an ending similar to [name_m]Raymond[/name_m], [name_m]Edmund[/name_m], etc., I wouldnāt be surprised if people thought Esclarmonde would be male as well.
Monde/Mond/Munda are also used in other recognizable female names such as: Adelmond, Clarimund/Clarimond , [name_f]Rosemunda[/name_f]/[name_f]Rosemond[/name_f] (famous Actress [name_f]Rosemond[/name_f] [name_m]Pike[/name_m]), Edmunda, [name_f]Diamond[/name_f], [name_f]Almond[/name_f], Palemond, Jessimond/Jesmond/Jismond and the unisex name Bellemond/Bellamond.
As I previously stated, you will run the chance of people not being familiar with the name. I will say that I was familiar with Edmunda and [name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_f]Rosemund[/name_f] through the famous actress [name_f]Rosemond[/name_f] [name_m]Pike[/name_m], and [name_m]Raymond[/name_m] through āEverybody loves [name_m]Raymond[/name_m]ā before I become introduced to nameberry and became informed on etymology. I was able to recognize both masculine/female names. I was even aware of [name_f]Rose[/name_f] being a unisex name.
So perhaps there may be āothersā out there who have heard the varies names through impasse, realatives, or T.V-celebrities, Shows, movies, [name_f]Music[/name_f], and literature. As long as there is no bad connection to anything, which no one has mention, then I am incline to use it.
Far more clunkier names with pronunciation issue have survived use, such as: [name_f]Bernadette[/name_f], Cladette, [name_f]Constantina[/name_f]/[name_f]Constantia[/name_f], [name_f]Augustina[/name_f], Candelaria, [name_f]Anastassia[/name_f], [name_f]Theodocia[/name_f]/[name_m]Theodoric[/name_m],[name_f]Guinevere[/name_f], Maximiliana/Maximilan, [name_f]Nanette[/name_f], [name_f]Ernestina[/name_f], Thomansina, [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f], the list can go on, so that leave me with little concern in that area. I did some research and there is the socialite [name_f]Sheherazade[/name_f] Goldsmith, and that is another longer more difficult name to pronounce, gives no indication of sex, but she seems to be mustering along just fine. So Iām not too worried about the monde/mond/munda ending.
Thank You for your honest reply!
It is pronounced Mon-d with a long O, as if you were to begin saying [name_f]Monday[/name_f]. It comes from the [name_m]German[/name_m] Mund/Munda, it means protection. I agree with you as well, dropping the middle e would be best. Thank you for you reply.