Names with accents

[Usanayme]

What do you think about putting the accent on the birth certificate (so that it's not 'wrong'), but then not using the accent day to day?

E.g. Esmé on the BC but then Esme otherwise

Why though?

Esmé and Esme are different spellings entirely to me, and pronounced differently (ez-may vs ez-me, though I know lots of people pronounce both the first way).

To me it's a bit like putting Katherine on the BC but spelling it Catherine or Kathryn day-to-day - unnecessarily complicated and confusing.

I'd just pick one spelling and go for that all the time. I personally prefer Esme but accents on names like Esmé, Chloë/é, Anaïs are not unusual now so I doubt you'd have any major problems if you did choose to spell it with the accent, and it might make it clearer which pronunciation you're after.

I too was going to ask why?

Esme is just an example that popped into my head, not one of the one I'm thinking about.

Some Irish names need to the fada to be correct but then I'm wondering if a fada is a bit of a faff in reality

Ohh I see, sorry I thought Esmé/Esme was the name you were considering. Both are legitimate spellings in that case but I suppose with Irish names with a fada you'd technically be spelling it wrong if you didn't use the fada. I can see your point but I'd probably use the "proper" spelling, especially if (and I'm assuming this is probably the case) you or DP is Irish/has Irish roots.

My name has an accent. I ditched it as soon as I was old enough to write my name, and I didn't bother putting it on the forms for a passport or on my marriage cert so it's literally only on my BC. Unless you plan for it to be used, I wouldn't bother.

I wouldn't bother.

Many names have accents in their original language but don't in Western usage (Elodie, for a less well known one). It makes no difference when the pronunciation is well known.

I love the name Chloe, but would have just spelt it Chloe. No accent.

My name is "supposed" to have an accent but my parents weren't sure if it was over the O or the E so didn't bother with it and I'm grateful. It's never caused any problems.

Mr friend is Zoë and woe betide you if you forget those dots

I know an Eabha who has a fada over a letter. I don't use it as I can never remember if it's supposed to be over the E or the A! Nobody in the family uses it, I doubt her school uses it. I think only her mum bothers.

I didn't know how to pronounce it without being told anyway. Once I'd heard it, I knew. So the fada would have meant sod all to me. Technically it's correct but I think it makes little difference and is probably easier dropped

Re. Irish names I'd just have to have all the fadas present and correct on the birth cert. Otherwise it would always niggle at me that it wasn't correct. Whether fadas were implemented in day to day situations would entirely be up to the owner of said fadas.

For example to use the example above.

Eabha = Eva
Éabha = Ava

If I had a child called Eabha that was pronounced as Ava it would haunt me. Okay maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it would bug the hell out of me