Pronunciation of Esme

[Halfpastfreckle]

We had pretty much decided on this name if this baby (currently 32 weeks) is a girl. I think of it as es-may. However at the park yesterday I heard one little boy call out to his sister Es-mee. Don’t like this at all and frankly it is putting me off. Is this a common pronunciation of the name??

@Sunflower321 I can’t tell if that was sarky or sincere...

I knew an Esme (me not mee) years ago when it was a dull old fashioned name, and a more recent Esmay. Personal choice surely.

I have a 7 year old called Esmee and people call her Es May and I absolutely hate it 🤢🤮 she even corrects them now!!! Esme with a hyphen is pronounced es May.

Mainly sincere, hellsbells

I've only ever heard it pronounced Esmay

Lucylou, I'd pronounce it Es-me unless it was spelt Esmé or Esmae.

That’s right @sunflower 👌🏼

I would pronounce it
Ess-may
Or to that effect in my Scottish accent.

You could spell it Esmae then no confusion.

Ez May to me aswell.

EsMee doesn't sound right, like Smee in Peter Pan.

I've only ever heard it pronounced as Ez may. That's influenced by Twilight though.

I would say Ez-mee. How popular is this name? This thread makes me think it's very popular but I thought it was only mid table?

bump :)

I’ve known a few Esme’s, all but one are “es-may”. I strongly dislike “Es-mee”.

I was entirely put off Clara when I found out that some pronounce it “Claire-ah” rather than “Klar-ah”.

Why can't it be pronounced both ways and both ways be right? It's the same name still.

We looked at this name for our daughter x

@Greenbook320 Did you not choose it because of the pronunciation issue? Can I ask why you didn't go for it if not? :)

I've only ever heard it pronounced Ez-may. Which is the correct pronounciation, surely, because as previous posters have said it's derived from the French past participle? Hearing it pronounced Ez-mee would make me cringe. As another poster said:

Es-mee is akin to pronouncing Nestlé as 'Nessils'.

Why are we bumping a thread that's 2 years old?

ZOMBIE!!!!

The reply from @florascotia2 is spot on!

Because my sister in law had it x

I've never heard anyone pronounce it Es-mee before. I love Esme pronounced Es-May.

I'd spell it Esmé if I wanted to be sure of getting that pronunciation you prefer.