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

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/baby_names/2259330-Esme-Esm-or-Esm-e

Yes, but English people mangle it anyway, literally pronouncing it as "fee-yon-say". They also literally pronounce it "Ez-may" which their British accent which is wrong. I'm not too fussed about people pronouncing my few foreign names "correctly" as I know it's virtually impossible for them to do so.

with their British accent*

My children both have unusual names. My eldest corrects people and uses a description to help. Once she’s older, she can say “Es-May as in the month of May”. A lot gets made of mispronunciation but for lots of people it’s not a big deal. My mum had a perfectly normal name (think Megan being pronounced May-gan or Sara being pronounced Sarah) and it was still mispronounced. I’d never change my child’s name because some people get it wrong because they’d probably get the next one wrong too. People just mispronounce stuff all the time, such as the brand Nike (the Greek goddess of victory, so ‘nigh-key’ or ‘Nike-ee’ with the ‘ee’ sound kept at the end). Correct people and your daughter will also correct people and it will happen less and less unless you move out of area. I agree a name change wouldn’t necessarily solve the issue because of the way people continue to say thing wrong anyway!

I don't think your other name choices are as nice as Ezme. How would your child feel about being called another name. I think you've left ot too late to change. Just pronounce it as you prefer and others will get the message.

Agree with this. My cousin had a similar dilemma so she just spelled her DDs name the way she wanted it pronounced.

I live in an English speaking country, and had never heard Esme prounounced any other way than ez May until I heard someone in the UK pronounce it es me. I also worked with an English woman called des me and I found it so hard to not say dez May, which is the normal pronounciation here - it's nothing to do with not being a French speaker.

No, it is to do with é and è not being part of the English alphabet apart from for some loan words (mostly French).

These loan words, such as fiancé, matinée, etc. do not have an alternative pronunciation, it is just commonly known, rather than worked out from the accents. Therefore British English speakers may not interpret the meaning of the é accent as the OP intends.

The name Esme is widely, not exclusively, pronounced 'es-me' in the UK. That is not incorrect.

OP has picked a name with more than one pronunciation and is now feeling the effect of that. She can go through life correcting everyone who encounters her kid. Fine, crack on. Or if that bothers her, it may be pragmatic to take a more relaxed approach, realise that her attempt at spelling the sounds she liked is not widely understood, and become more accepting of the other common pronunciation. Personally I would chalk it up to experience and not let it bother me. If she really hates 'es-me' then it was a silly name to pick.

To be honest just correct it and then she will too.

My son is a name which is often misspelt and mispronounced - I didn’t think so but Holly mackerel it’s daily- eg his name is Barnaby (it’s not) and he is called Bernie or Barnie or it’s spelt Barney etc - he’s nine but since the age of 3/4 he corrects everyone and even crosses it out when a teacher has written it wrong and corrects it

I agree with @Sillybollocks - it was a silly name to pick if you really hate the typical U.K. pronounciation. Esmé is by definition not a typical U.K. pronunciation because of the accent. It's a well known one but surely it was predictable that people would get it wrong. Just correct them, it's fine, but don't get upset or offended by doing it. Esmé pronounced either way is a lovely name and basically you just need to chill out.

The name Esme is widely, not exclusively, pronounced 'es-me' in the UK. That is not incorrect.

I'm not saying that it is incorrect, just that it seems to be a UK thing. Esme as a name here often does not have the accent, but is still pronounced ez-May, I have only heard it pronounced the other way by someone from the UK, and the same with Desme.

It's a lovely name, just immediately correct people if they mispronounce it. If there are repeat offenders the tell them politely but sternly.