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Original poster

How do you pronounce Esme?

87 replies

multicolours · 07/04/2024 17:27

Seen this name on a lot of baby name sites is it said Es(me) or Es(may) or something completely different?

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Lalupalina · 09/04/2024 21:38

Esmay as it's a name of French origin.

No, in French Esmé is not pronounced Esmay. It is more like Es-meh. There is no AY sound.

RuthW · 08/04/2024 15:42

Ez- me.

Can't bear it when people say Ez-may.

Bowlercoaster · 08/04/2024 07:43

Different people pronounce it differently.

A friend named her daughter Esmee with that spelling to avoid the issue 😀.

NannyR · 08/04/2024 07:41

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 07/04/2024 20:24

Esmay as it's a name of French origin.

So is Chloe, but I've never heard a Britush person pronounce it klo-ay.

Chloe is of Greek origin, not French.

Dyspraxiaexploring · 08/04/2024 01:45

multicolours · 07/04/2024 17:27

Seen this name on a lot of baby name sites is it said Es(me) or Es(may) or something completely different?

I know one of each pronunciation .

MadisonAvenue · 08/04/2024 01:16

I’ve only ever known one Esme and she’s now in her 80s, her name is pronounced Ez-me.

Aydel · 08/04/2024 00:21

Ezmee is the old pronunciation. My gran’s neighbour was Esme, pronounced Ezmee. The EsMay pronunciation is new.

Remaker · 08/04/2024 00:20

I had two great aunts with this name (in Australia). Both long dead now and both pronounced Es-May. There was also a well known character on Australian tv in the 80s also pronounced the same way. I’ve never come across Es-me here.

Giggorata · 08/04/2024 00:13

Ezmay

SushiSushi · 07/04/2024 23:59

Ez-mee every time. I just don't get the 'May' pronunciation.

AlltheFs · 07/04/2024 23:56

The two I know now are Ez-may (this is South East and East Mids).

Years ago though I knew an Ez-me (she was from Liverpool).

Regional accents may play a part so I don’t assume it’s Ez-may but that’s my default.

NameChangedAgainn · 07/04/2024 23:55

Ez-may, never heard it pronounced any other way. It's really popular around here at the moment, I've met loads of children with that name in the last few years.

walkerscrispsarethenuts · 07/04/2024 23:52

SapphireOpal · 07/04/2024 17:29

Ez-may

This

TerriPie · 07/04/2024 23:51

Ezz-May unless I'm aware of the preferred pronunciation

Justyouwaitandseeagain · 07/04/2024 23:49

Ez-me unless it has an accent. Esme (Ez-me) is an old traditional English name. Lots of people default to Ez-May though regardless of spelling or accents.

Snugglemonkey · 07/04/2024 23:39

Ez may. Have only ever seen es mee as a pronunciation on here. Perhaps it is geographical.

aintnospringchicken · 07/04/2024 21:28

Ezmay

NewName24 · 07/04/2024 21:18

Ez Mee for me.

UnimaginableWindBird · 07/04/2024 20:39

Ezmay

GremlinDolphin4 · 07/04/2024 20:36

Ez- may

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 07/04/2024 20:24

Esmay as it's a name of French origin.

So is Chloe, but I've never heard a Britush person pronounce it klo-ay.

WillYouPutYourCoatOn · 07/04/2024 20:23

Savoretti · 07/04/2024 17:47

If it has the accent then it should be Esmay. Esmé

This.

Esme is pronounced Ezmee
Esmé is pronounced Ezmay

It's a pet hate of mine when people use the former and insist it's the pronunciation of the latter. Café is caffay. Cafe is caff.

Evolutionarygoals · 07/04/2024 20:19

Itsokish · 07/04/2024 19:00

I have an Esme(me).

Me too 😊 Pratchett inspired in our case. It didn't really occur to me people would pronounce it differently but loads of them do. When she started taking we had to ask the nursery workers to pronounce it our way because she was starting to call herself esmay 🙄

AnitaLoos · 07/04/2024 20:18

Ez-may

StasisMom · 07/04/2024 20:11

Esmay as it's a name of French origin.