É/é names

[jennjeee92]

" É/é " do you have any suggestions for names with this letter?

I saw the title and thought Elon Musk is a mumsnetter?

Why do you want to use that? It will be a pain in the bum in the UK but if you're somewhere it's used a lot go for it.

This is causing my friend a load of hassle now with some admin, as she has the accent on her birth certificate but not anywhere else, passport etc. In French speaking countries the accent seems to make a big difference! I'd leave it off!

@afuckinggoat

Èlèzèbèth Èdwèrd

Disagree with posters who suggest it's a PITA, a friend has 2 girls with accented letters in their names and it takes half a second to add it when typing (and now I've typed it so often my phone remembers anyway).

I like Élise.

OP As you know, English doesn't use accents. In French, the 'e acute' sound (e with accent pointing upwards) doesn't really appear in English . It's somewhere between English 'eh' and 'ay'.
When I was taught French, we were told that an acute accent was often missed off a capital letter at the beginning of a word. Habits might have changed; I don't know.

For names such as Chloe and Zoe (which are Greek, not French) some people use two dots - a diaresis - to show that the vowels o and e are pronounced separately: Zo-ee rather than Zow. An acute accent on Greek names would be wrong in English - perhaps acceptable in French, however.

In Irish, accents are something different altogether. They generally show (SFAIK) that a vowel is to be lengthened. But I don't speak Irish; I hope that an Irish Mumsnetter can soon come along to correct you if I am wrong.

But, IF you are in the UK, why are you wanting a name that uses a sound that doesn't appear in English? If you are not in the UK, surely it would be better to ask a person who speaks the local language?

Sorry - don't know what happened to my second sentence. It should read:
The French 'e acute' ....

But, IF you are in the UK, why are you wanting a name that uses a sound that doesn't appear in English?

Well why not?

There are plenty of French names popular in English. Nobody dies.

Maybe look at some Irish names. They're very pretty names perhaps more common around the UK than typical French names that have that accent.

Sure I saw Eimear being used with that accent thing on the top...Elidh too

The UK passport office won't put the accent on btw!

@JaneJeffer

Éila

For who?

Most adults can type on a computer. 🤷🏻‍♀️🙄

You do realise that accents are common in most western languages? It's really not a big deal: they are there for a reason: to show you how to pronounce it.

To type é or ë on a smartphone all you have to do is hold down the e key.
It's really very easy to do.

I think s, outside the language groups where they occur and er uses them, are likely to be a PITA, or just plain ignored

Maybe by ignorant cretins. An accent clearly indicates a non-standard pronunciation. Anybody with manners would ask how it is pronounced and them copy it once told. It's not difficult. The same as you'd do for any name you are unfamiliar with, given that English has irregular pronunciation anway (the issue that accents address in most languages! Hence checking unknown pronunciations being basic manners in the UK but not necessary in languages with regular pronunciation due to the use of accents...)

@Winecurestiredness

Sure I saw Eimear being used with that accent thing on the top...Elidh too

That accent thing""

The UK passport office won't put the accent on btw!

Most official forms and bank accounts do not allow for accents (é), umlauts (ä) or diaresis (ë).

So yes, it is a pain in the UK.

Yeah, I had had a few glasses of wine, sorry

Not sure if accents would be the same but I have an apostrophe in my surname - it is a complete pain in the arse.
For certain things I HAVE to put the apostrophe because it’s my legal proper name but so many online forms will not accept it, if I fill them in & leave it out I’m then not recognised because it’s not my name.

Some Irish names have accents, they're called a fada here. The fada on a vowel lengthens it, so á is pronounced like aw (as in raw), é is ay (as in hay), í is ee, ó is o (as in the letter O), ú is oo (as in too).

@nancy75

Not sure if accents would be the same but I have an apostrophe in my surname - it is a complete pain in the arse. For certain things I HAVE to put the apostrophe because it’s my legal proper name but so many online forms will not accept it, if I fill them in & leave it out I’m then not recognised because it’s not my name.

I raised this as an issue on a computer system where you needed to put in your name. The system was nothing like tax, bank just that your name would be listed as a contact. Was told it didn't matter.

I think it would if my name was Séan O'Toole or Thérèse d'Arcy or something else with accents and apostrophes

@IWantToBeNynaeve

Some Irish names have accents, they're called a fada here. The fada on a vowel lengthens it, so á is pronounced like aw (as in raw), é is ay (as in hay), í is ee, ó is o (as in the letter O), ú is oo (as in too).

This is really interesting and useful @IWantToBeNynaeve - thank you!