LadyKooKoo, I actually don't have any children yet, but am expecting my first and Esmé is on our list.
The OP mentioned nothing about her Esme (Esmee) being an abbreviation of Esmerelda, so that's got nothing to do with this thread. What she did essentially say is that that she has put her own pronunciation on the name Esme (which is meant to be spelt with an accent and pronounced accordingly).
Yes, there is a vast array of foreign names which have been anglicised (Aimée for example is one and some people pronounce this Amy, not Aim-A, as it should be), but that doesn't mean that it's the correct way to pronounce the name. It just really gets on my nerves when I hear names being said incorrectly.
Maybe this stems from the fact that I'm a language teacher and it therefore grates on me more than normal. I'm also Irish and find it very annoying when (Irish!) people mispronounce Irish-language names, like Cliodhna, for example. This should be pronounced Clee-on-a, but so many people say Clee-own-a, which is wrong.
I know, I should just get over it!