Is Esme too popular?

I don't know any child Esmes

I met a very very old lady yesterday called Elma. I thought what a lovely name!

It was the name of a Twilight character which sent it back up the name charts. It's a lovely name though, so if you like it go for it!

Sorry

Sorry, typing on a mobile!

It's Esmeralda, not Esmerelda

Yes Esmerelda is Spanish for emerald. And, yes, Esmerelda's use Esme as a nickname.

If you name a child Esme, and you are thinking of the Scottish use of the French name meaning esteem, you cannot guarantee that everyone will interpret it your way. Britain is becoming fairly multicultural. Some people will be thinking Esmerelda.

Puppymonkey is right, and it used to be used for boys only. I like it for boys actually.

Esmeralda (it's not Esmer e lda as pps and 80% of people on here always type ) is connected to Emerald, nought to do with Esme, though technically nothing to stop you using Esme as a short form.

It's nothing to do with Esmerelda, it's a name made popular in Scotland / that's why you get lots of little old Scottish ladies called Esme.

appellationmountain.net/esme/

Ezmae (shudder)

Too close to eczema!

thanks Saul, I think it's so beautiful. I'd be hard-pressed to find a boys' name I love more. Which countries are you speaking of - the US? Please come and join my thread!

Oh Goodbye, use it if you have a boy. I really love Sacha (all spellings, for family reasons we'd have used Sacha though). It's a fabulous name and it is a boys name but as you've found, usage and opinion really affect the perception of a name. There are countries where you can't use it for a girl. It would be like calling a girl Nigel. Best of luck TTC!

There's an Ezmae (shudder) at my DS's school but other than that I've not encountered a single Esme.

Interestingly, I have another thread about Sasha for a boy (currently TTC) and someone said that they couldn't shake the notion that it's a girl's name. I disagree, but I suppose people's impressions matter or we wouldn't be here on this board.

We had a major stand-off on my last son re: Sasha - my poor husband is so grateful that I've agreed to TTC that I've won that battle before it's even begun this time around.

It will become extremely popular because I've used it recently!! Same has happened to me with an older Amelie and Isaac. I have an ear for the next big thing apparently...

Just, don't worry about it. My ds has an unpopular name, very low down the charts. There will be 3 in his reception class (I ran a parent craft class for pregnant women and took my newborn ds for demonstrations and 2 mothers used his name too). Then you look at the name Oliver which is top of the charts and massively popular and there are none in dd's school or ds's preschool.

Esme has been climbing in popularity for around ten years along with the similar Evie, Ella, Emily type names. Your Esme is your Esme whether you meet several others or never encounter another one. You chose the name you like.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esmé

The basics on Esme. Meaning "esteem" in French, or short for Esmerelda.

If you like it, go for it. I don't think it is overly popular. I do like the idea that it is French for esteem, more than a nickname for Esmerelda.

Its not sudden. Its been going on for a few years now.

Gah! I have just called my daughter Esme. It is a name is have liked since being a child. Really don't want it to have a sudden popularity boom...

Famousfor5, you say it gets the "wrong" pronunciation all the time but these threads historically show that there are two pronunciations and they are used pretty much equally. I would argue that there are two correct pronunciations if you look at common usage.

It's like the name Sacha. I wanted to use it for ds but in the uk and the us, people started using it for girls and while it is a boys' name, I can't argue against common usage. People do use it for girls now, particularly in the uk, I know they're wrong but I can't fight the shift. I begrudgingly acknowledge it is unisex now.

It does get the wrong pronunciation all the time. Some people can't seem to even hear the difference. There are a few small ones around here but I wasn't bothered about choosing a very unusual name, as long as it wasn't Emily. I know so many of them. Names beginning with E are very popular though and that means she often gets confused with Evies and Elsies etc.

Agree it's a name in its own right and does not need an accent or French pronunciation. That's like saying Hugo should always be 'ugo because it has a French origin.

DD2 is Esme. She's 8 and we've met one other in all that time. Notts/Derbyshire.

MN has been saying it's too popular ever since she was a baby. MN is not representative of RL is all I can say.

It's not short for Esmerelda btw, it's a name in its own right.

We pronounce Esmee. Don't really like Esmay.

The popularity wouldn't bother me but the endless arguments on here re pronunciation would a little. People have v fixed ideas about how you say it, whether it should have an accent, assertions that it's French and should have an accent and should be pronounced x or no it's not French, it's Scottish and you say it THIS way. That was the thing that put me off tbh. I did like it when pregnant with dd 8 years ago.

The 2013 stats put it at 58th which isn't that high up BUT it's 7 higher than 2012 and probably higher now. It's climbed 105 places since 2003 and is probably not done climbing tbh.

I think it's lovely. Mind you Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes used it so it might gain traction.

No Esmes that I'm aware of at my kids' school, but it's for year 3 and up.

Two in my family,ages 9 and 82! Love the name.