Esme pronunciation

[Buddhabowl]

If you don't mind could you tell me how you would pronounce Esme and whereabouts you live? I like Ezmee but DH has only heard Ezmay.
I like both but just want to use a pronunciation that is least likely to be pronounced incorrectly.
I'm in the South East and until recently had only heard Ezmee but I'm getting the impression up north it is always Ezmay.
If it's too contentious I think we might go with Daphne instead!

@YouWereGr8InLittleMenstruators

Do you like Thisbe, if you like the two syllables with an ee ending? I love it.

Reminds me of someone with a speech impediment trying to say frizbee 😂

Ez-meh in Yorkshire

It’s bouquet, not bookay. Like a bouquet of flowers 💐

I agree it’s pronounced Ezmay

Ezmay - I'm in NZ and that's the only way I've heard it pronounced here.

I’m an adult Esme. I pronounce it ezmee. I get various pronunciations and I’m not bothered/don’t really notice. I quite like both ezmee and esmay. People tend to love my name (or not say if they don’t…!) - I’m a bit indifferent as it’s quite girly and I wish I’d been called something unisex/not ending in a vowel.

My nickname is ez, but I’ve always harboured a girly wish to be nicknamed Mimi.

Ezmee, North East. Figures as close to Scotland. However I think most people desire the Esmée pronunciation, so I’d probably default to that until / unless corrected. I personally prefer the Scottish pn.

May not Me

The first time I ever came across the name was in a book where the main character was called Esmerelda, Esmie for short. With the ie it was obviously Ez-mee. Could this be an option for you OP?

Well I always thought it was pronounced Esmee, until I watched the GBSB, where one of the presenters is a definite Esmay!

I would have thought the anglicised version would be Esmee, as the ‘ay* sound would come from the é in French, non?

as the ‘ay sound would come from the é in French, non?*

Non, the French é does not sound like 'ay' at all. It's more like a long eh.

Ez-may (London/Essex)

I'm a teacher and I have had a few Esme's always been pronounced ez me

Esmee. Never ever heard it pronounced Esmay - I live in London and grew up in USA.

Yorkshire and my cousins baby girl is "Ez-may"

Granted I've only known two...

I'd pronounce it as Ez-mee, because there's no accent.

If there was an accent, Ez-may.

Fwiw though if you go with it, I'd just teach your child that it's an accent thing, they're still calling her by the correct name, they just pronounce it differently. So she doesn't need to correct either pronunciation (though can introduce herself whichever way she prefers).

I have a name which is pronounced with different sounds by people from different regions and it honestly would never have occurred to me to 'correct' their pronunciation, it's still obviously my name.

Non, the French é does not sound like 'ay' at all. It's more like a long eh.

Yes but ‘ay’ is the best you’re going to get most of the time in the uk. Even café, which still often retains the ‘e acute’ spelling is pronounced ‘cafay’ rather than ‘cafeh’. “I’ll meet you in Waitrose cafeh”, would sound horribly pretentious

I would say Ez-mee

I heard my first Ez-May yesterday and wondered if it was spelt differently

Yes but ‘ay’ is the best you’re going to get most of the time in the uk.

And for that reason I'd avoid using Esmé in the U.K. People will mispronounce it.

I much prefer the suggestion of Esmeralda nickname Esmie. That's cute and will not get mispronounced in English.

"I’ll meet you in Waitrose cafeh"

I'd pronounce it that way But then I'm not British (nor French, but my native language has the 'eh' sound).

Ez-may - I'm in the South East

@Blubells

"I’ll meet you in Waitrose cafeh"

I'd pronounce it that way But then I'm not British (nor French, but my native language has the 'eh' sound).

Yes, sorry Should have said it only sounds pretentious if English is your 1st language, and you’re trying to pronounce a foreign word ‘properly’ but in the context of English!

Having thought about it much more than I intended to, or even realised I could, I suppose going by the logic of my example, ‘cafe’, which is pronounced ‘cafay’ with or without the é, Esme should be ‘Esmay’. I prefer ‘Esmee’, though!

Thanks for all the comments. I like the idea of Esmerelda, nickname Esmie, but Esmerelda is a big name! Not sure it feels quite right. I'll give it some thought.

The pretentious comments are how I feel about Ez-may, to me it sounds pretentious to correct someone from Esmee to Esmay, like my Hyacinth Bucket comment earlier.
I messaged my best friend yesterday to ask how she would pronounce it and she just said 'Ezmee obviously' she doesn't have children and isn't around them much so isn't aware of Ezmay. So I'd have to say 'no not Ezmee, Ezmaaaaay' so often which feels pretentious even if it isn't.

To be honest I'm leaning towards a different name now. I love Juliana but my DH finds it a bit much, we both like Daphne, I also like Amber.

It's a shame because I love Esme, but this debate is really off putting as I imagine she will have this issue her whole life.