How would you pronounce Esme?

[JojoMags]

I think this is beautiful pn Es-may but ordinary pn Es-me. Would I be fighting a losing battle against a tide of Es-me if we used this?

[deste]

My 87 year old neighbour is an Ez- may.

[Shinyshoes1]

I know an Esme

She pronounces it Ez May

[JojoMags]

Thanks everyone. On balance there seem to be more 'Es-mays' than 'Es-mees'. Hurrah!

[BrienneOfTarth]

If you're worried, why not use a variant spelling - would "Esmae" escape being mispronounced?

[chickensaladagain]

I've never heard of es-me

Sounds made up or a nickname

It's always been es-may and I don't think it's a north/south thing, just the correct way to pronounce it

[20wkbaby]

I am 40 and went to school with an Esme (esmay). Obviously it comes from the French so accent or not it is Esmay - there is no such name as Esmee unless you just copy all the people who can't pronounce it properly.

A bit like Holborn being pronounced Holl-born rather than Ho-burn just cos lots of people do it doesn't make it right.

[SgtTJCalhoun]

It's one of my favourite girls names as Es me. I don't like it as Es May.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Es-may with a hard s.

[elah11]

I have only ever heard the Ez may pn irl and then the Ez me pn on forums like this. Ez me is dreadful, sorry, I much prefer Ez may.

[MoonHare]

With an accent over last e it is pn Ez-may and as it is a French name this is the 'correct' pn.

However in the UK some people prefer to drop the accent and pn Ez-mee, historically this variation of the name was more commonly used in Scotland.

Personally I think the Ez-may pn is much nicer.

[Layl77]

Only heard ez may here

[TwasBrillig]

It must be one of those names that opinion is divided on (depending what you grew up with?)

I'd certainly say Es-me was the "usual" name (southerner) and the pretty version. Haven't heard of Es-may before this thread, I'd think it would sound a bit odd to me.

[Tickledyellow]

I know of two adult Esme and they both pronounce it Es- mee. I think the name is French and you would need an accent on last e for an es- may pronunciation. Have to say I love both ways of pronouncing it! Beautiful name and very nearly used it for DD

[BobblyGussets]

Es-may is far nicer than Ez-me, which I really don't like. I have a neice called the former and she has never been troubled in all of her 9 years by people calling her "Ezme". She is a pretty little girl, so I always think of the "Es-may" prononounciation as the pretty version, the other one less so.

[Littlehousesomewhere]

ehz-may

[daisydoodoo]

my Esme is a southerner and we have the ` over the last e.

[3boysgirlontheway]

EzMay to me as well, have never met any pronounced the other way. All the Esme's in ireland (that I ever met or heard of) are EzMay.

[BooCanary]

Ezmay to me.

[chartreuse]

Es may, very pretty

[efffy]

My DD is an Es-me, we are in the West Country. There are a couple of others at school/clubs etc and they are all es-mes too. She's in juniors now and no-ones ever made a joke out of it either

[Ham69]

I'm a southerner and my DD's Esme pronounced 'Ezmee'. Whoever said it's a 'joke' name must be 'hilarious'. Not heard that one and my DD's 4.

[TobyLerone]

I'm a southerner. Everyone says Ez-me.

It was also an elderly relative's name and she was Ez-me and from Belfast.

[LemonBreeland]

I think it depends on where you live as to how it would be pronounced.

I'm up north and would say Esmee, but feel southerners would be more likely to say Esmay.

[chattychattyboomba]

Ez-may to me. You could avoid the Esme pronunciation by writing it Esmé or Esmae?
Don't usually go for unusual spelling though.

[LaydeeC]

Es-me definitely
Es-may sounds odd to my ear.
I have known three of them (inc my 14 yo) all pn Es-me
Love it, obviously!