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

1 2

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

Baby names

Anais, Esme or Isobel

50 replies

JojoMags · 16/05/2013 22:07

Mn would be Margaret, which is a family name. Last name rhymes with 'tree'.

OP posts:

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abasicname · 17/05/2013 13:26

Anais

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ZolaBuddleia · 17/05/2013 13:57

Esme pronounced Ezmay for me. Anais is too near anus, and Isobel is too popular.

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marriedtoagoodun · 17/05/2013 13:59

Esme is lovely. Classic, pretty but strong. Isobel, although pretty, is very popular and Anais is not to my taste.

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TheSecondComing · 17/05/2013 14:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

miffybun73 · 17/05/2013 18:30

Esme (pronounced Ez-may)

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thing1andthing2 · 17/05/2013 18:34

Anais (an-eye-eece) was our front runner until a (blunt) friend of mine said "you're going to call your daughter anus?".
So we called her Eva.

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deleted203 · 17/05/2013 18:42

Anais, unfortunately, I always just think 'Porn'...and a minute or two later, 'Incest'.

I know that's a bit simplistic, but the name was popularised by Anais Nin, so it's just what springs to mind for me.

I like Esme and Isobel, but agree that Isobel is becoming fairly common.

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SirChenjin · 17/05/2013 21:27

It just makes think of Anais Anais - we all reeked of the stuff in the 80s, before we discovered Poison and Obsession

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SirChenjin · 17/05/2013 21:28

(but we pronounced it Anay Anay..)

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UpTheFRIGGinDuff · 18/05/2013 07:41

Esme.

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NowPlayingZone · 18/05/2013 18:44

Anais. Beautiful.
Bored of Isobel & Esme is a bit meh.

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Secondme · 18/05/2013 18:51

Is Isobel that popular? I have one and she constantly gets called Isabel and Isabella. I can say that I know only 4 other Isobels. I can't really talk on this one (totally biased to Isobel) but I would have no idea how you say Anais and probably her teachers won't either. Esme that American girl in Malory Tower...

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JennyEnglishTwo · 18/05/2013 18:53

I wouldn't ever be certain if I'd heard Isobel or Isabel, so I'd lump them in together to be honest.

Anais is ugly imo. What about Anouk? Anneka? Anya?

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DisappointedHorse · 18/05/2013 18:55

I have an Isobel and I still love it. It is popular although we only know one other - her best friend who is an Isabel!

Esme is lovely, I don't like Anais.

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JojoMags · 18/05/2013 19:38

Thanks everyone. On the strength of this thread, Anais is out (though I still like the apparent mis-pronounciation of An-ay-iss - totally accept this is wrong !) Isobel is not that popular around us, particularly not this spelling. The other option is Margaret Rose (I know, I know - Rose is very common as a mn but DO NOT care), who would be known as Meg or more probably Rosie. So the options are:

Isobel Margaret
Esme Margaret
Margaret Rose

I think Isobel might just have the edge...

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KittenofDoom · 18/05/2013 19:48

I read a novel in which a female character was called Ismay, which seems to be a variation of Esme. Does that appeal to you, as it has an element of Isobel? Far less common, and avoids the spelling and pronunciation issues.

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JojoMags · 18/05/2013 20:04

Ismay should be perfect! The trouble is it only needs a 'd' to be dismay which is what I see when I look at it. Thanks for the suggestion though.

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KittenofDoom · 18/05/2013 20:17

Oh, well you can do that to a lot of names :) We had a dog called Grace who often got called Dis-Grace

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Snazzywaitingforsummer · 18/05/2013 21:33

Margaret Rose was Princess Margaret's full name, IIRC. It's a nice combo.

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girliefriend · 18/05/2013 21:39

Esme is my personal favourite and if I ever had another dd would use it. Always pronounce Es - mee

however with Margaret as a mn I am tempted to say I prefer Isobel and actually think Margaret Rose has a nice ring to it, I like Maggie for a little girl as well

Glad you have gone off Anais really don't like that and as someone above said it makes me think anal/anus sorry.

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DonDrapersAltrEgoBigglesDraper · 18/05/2013 21:44

Es-mee is just and besides, you would have to go with the far nicer Es-may pronunciation, if your surname rhymes with 'tree'.

I wonder if all the Renées out there feel pretentious, and so (mis)pronounce their name Ren-ee...?

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dragonflymama · 18/05/2013 21:56

Anais for me..beautiful name & sure the correct pn will catch once people have heard it once or twice! As for Isobel...we have an Isabella and whilst I love the name, I was disappointed with how popular it became.

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TerrysNo2 · 18/05/2013 22:07

I like Esme. prefer Isabelle spelling if going for that

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TerrysNo2 · 18/05/2013 22:12

Esme phonetically should be Ez-may imo

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JennyEnglishTwo · 19/05/2013 10:16

It's Ezmee not ezmay. Ezmay is a new thing. It's not a french name. It's a female short form of Edmund or Edward and it was first used in scotland. in my opinion Esmé is the version that's cringe. Although at least if there's an accent on it you know how you're expected to pronounce it. so, the one that would annoy me the most would be Esme and the parents getting annoying that you pronounce it Ezmee.