I regret my daughter's name :-(

[storyofus]

It's Esmé.. (ez-May) she gets es - me all the time.. there's quite a few others.. I just wish I'd called her something else

I disagree. If English-speaking people can pronounce fiancée, Esmé should not be difficult.

Are there many English-speaking people saying Fi-an-cee.

Why did you use a letter we don't even use in our language system if it's going to annoy you so much that people who use our language system don't use it?? (Because we don't use it!).

How the fuck do you even get an é if you're typing on a proper keyboard? What a ridiculous thing to be complaining to your headteacher about. As if they're not busy enough with actual issues like staffing and funding and bullying...

Esme is a beautiful name, I would pronounce is Ez-may from the get go. Never met an Es-mee

But people pronounce it that way because there is one accepted pronunciation. I would hazard most people would not use the accent when writing it down. Esme has two accepted pronunciations and many people are not familiar with the impact of an accent.

Yet, when referenced on English-speaking shows and movies it is usually pronounced Es-may and no one is seeing the accent then.

Perhaps, the use of Es-mee is a regional thing.

Esmé is fine. Just be glad you didn't call her something really silly. You actually chose a perfectly good name so be proud of it.

It's absolutely beautiful!

I've always loved the name Esme!

people still say my name wrong i just shorten it i know hearder with your dd name

It's a lovely name. I like both versions. We considered it but were concerned about pronunciation and then we had boys anyway.
If we had chosen it I was willing to accept both ways of pronouncing it.
The older she gets the more people will know her name and it will be less if an issue. If a receptionist gets it wrong or someone else that doesn't know you, who really cares? My son's gets mispronounced all the time. Stick with it.

How strange! I’ve got an Esmé and she’s almost 3 and has never been called Es-me. Maybe it’s area dependent?

Makes me wonder if you are friends with my daughter - though half the time she doesn't bother correcting people unless it's someone who matters to her

I know when she started comp when one of her teachers kept calling her Alisha, another girl in the class was mortified that she had been calling her by the wrong name since they were both 3 'no, you say it right, but I've given up with Mr X'

To be honest I don't 'hear' much of a difference between Es-may and Es-mee when saying it outloud. It's noticeable if you are repeating the names but in a conversation I probably wouldn't notice.
Sometimes it might just be people's accents.
My name can be said slightly differently depending on a persons accent - similar to how people might pronounce "Bath" as "Baff" or "Barth". I don't think of them as saying my name wrong - it's just their accent.
Esme* is a beautiful name. Even if it has that slight sound change from time to time it's still your daughter's name.
*I can't do the thingy over the 'e' on my phone - sorry.

Well said. It is ridiculously time consuming on a standard keyboard to write letters with accents on so you’ve got to expect that lots of people aren’t going to be bothered to do it.

Don't change her name, it's lovely! Definitely correct people each time they mispronounce it though, and eventually you'll get everyone saying it as you intended. My goddaughter is named Bethan, and it's incredible to me the amount of people who call her Beth-Ann, like it's two separate names - it really grates on her, but at 16 now, she's perfectly capable of correcting people herself (and does!)

I love the Esmé ; Ez-me sound, but not Ex-may.

Are you fully committed to Ez-may rather than Ez-me? It seems a shame to change such a beautiful name.

My son has a name that is very similar to a girls name. He is constantly called this by people. For example at the doctors, even when meeting Santa. I don't hesitate to correct them but it is annoying especially as it isn't just a mispronunciation, it's a completely different name for a different gender! So I understand your annoyance. It's obviously up to you but I wouldn't change her name. Just keep correcting people. It's a gorgeous name!

Then, they’re pretty lazy since it takes seconds to do so and I say this as someone whose job was to enter and process paperwork of international clients into various databases.

It's a beautiful name. Just correct folk the first time and ignore them if they keep saying it wrongly. Don't worry, give it a year or two and she'll be quick to correct them!
You'll be thinking oh phew lol.

I have a name which is spelt and pronounced wrong 9/10 (not an unusual spelling, just a common variation) and in all honesty I barely notice now. I often don't bother to correct it - the only time I really insisted on it was the registrar at my wedding (I got them to write the pronunciation in their notes).

Literally you can be called Bob and someone will
pronounce it wrong, don’t worry.

I do think sometimes we channel anxiety into things like this, though. Check if you are anxious about other aspects or having a new child.

I think I’m going about it the wrong way then, I think you have to go to symbols and then find the right letter with the accent on each time you want to write it, would love to know if there’s a quicker way. That’s in word, no idea how to do it if I were putting it into a database.

French people actually don't pronounce "é" as "ay". They are very good at sticking with the either grave or acute "e" sound (depending on the accent) at the end of a word that English-speaking people seem to need to prolong with an "ay" sound. It's similar to how Spaniards pronounce "Chile" as "Chileh" while the English-speakers feel the need to say "Chi-lay" instead. Neither Esmé or Esmè would be pronounced "Es-may" in French.

When you choose a foreign name with foreign symbols in it you really cannot expect people to figure out the pronunciation you have chosen for it.

And on top of that, for you it's the name of the most special person in your life, and hence very important. For other people she will be just a normal child and her name won't be relevant of important to them, so you or her will need to stress the way it is pronounced a number of times. Other people's name pronunciation are not anybody's priority in life.

Trust me, she will have it all of her life being an ez-may myself. Just correct them.

Change it to Esmay then nobody will mispronounce. I love Esme pronounced me or may it’s a beautiful name.