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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Esmee or Esmay? WWYD

60 replies

Fable · 22/01/2009 13:45

If you wanted the name pronouced Esmay would you

  1. Use Esmee
  2. Use Esmee with an accent
  3. Use Esmay
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Greenbook320 · 22/08/2020 08:03

Esmes beautiful x

tywysoges · 21/08/2020 23:36

I think OP’s Esme/ée/ay (or whatever name she picked eventually) is about 11 now? Grin

Cbeebiesrehab · 21/08/2020 21:47

How awkward! I won’t tell my cousin! She thinks she’s very culturedGrin

Thefaceofboe · 21/08/2020 19:08

I’d say esMAY is just Esme.

florascotia2 · 21/08/2020 17:40

cbeebiesrehab I think it's because the accent on the final e is facing the wrong way. To produce the sound 'ay' as in cafe, the accent needs to be high at the right and low at the left, not the other way round.

In French, an accent facing the other way - a grave accent - produces a longer, duller sound rather like ehhh.
You can listen to the two different sounds here, in a word that has both accents: forvo.com/search/Helene/fr/

FizzingWhizzbee123 · 21/08/2020 17:09

Esme

Although I suppose Esmae isn’t awful. Not keen on your original suggestions and particularly dislike Esmay.

Cbeebiesrehab · 21/08/2020 16:04

Is it @Pippilangstrumpfie? I thought it was pretty well recognised.

Pippilangstrumpfie · 21/08/2020 15:24

My cousin is Esmè

That's a very unusual spelling!!

Pippilangstrumpfie · 21/08/2020 15:23

Esmée is the correct girls spelling. Esmé is masculine.

But many English speakers mispronounce it as Esmee so spelling it Esmae might help?

Sunshines123 · 21/08/2020 10:52

I have a fiend with a little girl spelt Esmae and no mistaking that for “may” instead of “me” sound

florascotia2 · 21/08/2020 10:36

As previous poster said, Esme (with accent) was originally used as a first name by a Scottish-French man, one of the very close friends of King James VI/I. It's a French-language adjective meaning 'esteemed' (which is the English-language version of the same word).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esm%C3%A9_Stewart,_1st_Duke_of_Lennox

French adjectives have male or female endings, depending on what they are describing. As another poster said, for a girl, the adjective 'esteemed' would be Esmee, with an acute accent on the second 'e'. The extra e does not change the pronounciation, however.

Male and female versions Esme/Esmee (with accents) are pronounced the same, Ess-meh (ending as in 'cafe,' as previous poster said).

As a name it's a bit like 'Bonnie' - a descriptive word used as a name.

MikeUniformMike · 21/08/2020 00:47

Use Esmee with an accent.
Esme is a boy's name (or was)
Esmay looks a bit hmm.

Oneandabean · 20/08/2020 22:17

I know a few with different spellings All are pronounced es-May though, I don’t think the spelling matters, I’d say all the same way.

Cbeebiesrehab · 20/08/2020 22:03

My cousin is Esmè pronounced Es-May

SammyJo1234 · 20/08/2020 21:08

I love love love the name Esmay. I prefer this spelling overall. It’s a beautiful girls name.

hulabula · 16/03/2009 21:34

Esmee (with or without accent) for a girl!

EdwardBear · 16/03/2009 17:46

I'd use Esme without the accent.
If I saw that I'd assume it was pronounced Esmay.. have never heard it said Esmee

RachieB · 16/03/2009 17:43

Esme with an accent

randomname · 16/03/2009 17:10

esmae?

Alishanty · 16/03/2009 16:03

We have an Esme (pronounced Es-mee). It is how I have always thought it was spelled and pronounced, have only ever heard of other Es-mees. Some people occassionally call her Es-may which I don't really like but it's no big deal imo. If you want Es-may I would go for the accent.

secondbump · 16/03/2009 14:04

Esmee sounds lovely, but not keen on Es-may at all...

Also agree that Esmee looks more feminine than Esme.

othersideofchannel · 16/03/2009 12:21

As others have said,

Esmé is the male form
Esmée the female form

This is similar to a name like Rene/Renee. I would use the accent if you can (don't know if UK passports allow accents), because it avoids any confusion as to how to pronounce it.

If you use no accent, people will either say Es-mee (nice imo) or Es-may (horrid to my ears) and you'll have to correct them.

2Helenback · 16/03/2009 11:42

My bump is due to be an Esme (EsME) if a girl. I hadn't realised it was getting very popular as it didn't hit top 10 last year.

I googled it, and Wikipedia came up with a list of Esmes, several of which were blokes!

I have never yet taught an Esme, which is part of the attraction. Mind you, when I returned form last maternity leave I found two girls with dd's name had landed in school when I thought we had none. Teaching ruins 99% of potential baby names!

nappyaddict · 16/03/2009 00:56

(Even though I personally think for a girl it should be Esmée and pronounced Es - mee)

gigglewitch · 16/03/2009 00:54

I know an Esmay - he's a twenty something afro-carribbean gorgeous bloke