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Esmée

15 replies

jackie289 · 27/12/2015 20:22

I'm just a bit confused - many people are naming their little girls Esme and I loved the sound of the name, so now I'm considering it, but Esmé seems to be the male spelling and Esmée the female?

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dimdommilpot · 27/12/2015 21:46

I have a 5 year old DD called Esmè.

Jesabel · 27/12/2015 21:52

It's just been spelled Esme for a long time as an English name.

I think the Esmé spelling indicates you want an Ez-MAY pronunciation.

SugarDiabetes · 27/12/2015 21:56

I have an Esme (pronounced Es-me).

Esmé is Es-May.

Gorgeous name!

SugarDiabetes · 27/12/2015 21:57

It is originally a Scottish boys' name I believe.

edengarden123 · 27/12/2015 22:08

I had the exact same query and my research too leads me to believe that the female version is Esmée. I really want get it right. Even the direction of the accent over the e seems to differ

myotherusernameisbetter · 27/12/2015 22:51

I used to work with a very posh older lady who was Esme (in Scotland) and it was always pronounced Iz-may. I always had to call her Miss Surname though so never actually had to use it.

I think the original French name would be masculine with one e, but I think in Scotland it's been used for women with one e rather than two, for many many years.

thelaundryfairy · 27/12/2015 22:53

I´m French and as far as I know Esmé and Esmée aren´t French names, however in France Esme (pronounced Ez-may) is a popular girls´ name.

calzone · 27/12/2015 22:55

I love it.

Had a friend years ago who called her dad Esme......the only problem was that her husband couldn't pronounce it and called her Emsia!!!!!

calzone · 27/12/2015 22:56

Her dd.....not dad.

PattyPenguin · 27/12/2015 23:06

From the Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd edition

"Esmé(m, f) the first occurence of this name seems to be Esmé Stuart (1542-83), bth Seigneur d'Aubigny and afterwards Duke of Lennox, cosuing of James VI of Scotland, whose mother was French. His name, which is not found earlir in the family, and which was borne by his son and his grandson, was sometimes spelt Aymie, and it is possible that it it really the fairly common French name Aimé (see Amyas). The name spread from the Stuarts to other Scottish families and eventually to England. It is now sometimes given to girls, probably from confusion with the old name Ismay."

(Ismay was a female name used during the middle ages, and is of obscure etymology.)

So Esmé seems to be the traditional spelling in Britain for both girls and boys. Esmée comes from believing it to be a French name. In fact in either form it has only been used in France very recently (Esmée only since 2000, according to registers), having migrated from English-speaking countries.

Terry Pratchett fans will undoubtedly nickname her Granny or Weatherwax.

cece · 27/12/2015 23:08

My DD is called Esme and we say it Es-me

babyblabber · 28/12/2015 12:19

My niece is Esme (ez-may, never heard of ez-me pronunciation til I joined mumsnet!) after a character in a JD Salinger book

KERALA1 · 29/12/2015 19:12

I liked this but dh vetoed on grounds he had never heard of it and accused me of making it up!

KLG3101 · 29/12/2015 23:02

We have picked Esme as our bay girl name and will pronounce it Es-May. Beautiful name. Have you chosen, if any a middle name?

NauticalNat · 29/12/2015 23:12

I'd spell it Esme :)

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