How do you pronounce Esme?

[multicolours]

Seen this name on a lot of baby name sites is it said Es(me) or Es(may) or something completely different?

I also had a friend called Marie who pronounced her name Mah-ri..

so obviously I surround myself with wrong thinkers !!!!

The 2 I know, both in their 90's are Ez-May.

I've only ever seen Ez-Me on MN! Is it regional? Where are people from that pronounce it Ez-Me?

It's not a case of right or wrong. Like many names, Esme / Esmé is a name of French origin, but it was adopted into English a long time ago, so the anglicised pronunciation is pretty much as commonly used as the more French-sounding version. Both are perfectly normal ways to pronounce the name. Only a pedantic arse tells people they are pronouncing their own name incorrectly.

May because of the accent above the last letter

I have an Esme(me).

This is joining up with the class/pardon threads.

Ezmay is the middle to upper middle class pronunciation.

Anyone can pronounce it how they want. Just as they can say loo or toilet, or napkin or serviette.

If it has an accent I would pronounce it Esmay (Esmé).
otherwise Esmee (Esme). It is short for Esmerelda or on its own. It is a lovely name, but both are right.

Think the Maah-rie pronunciation is Irish? I’ve met a couple, it’s definitely an established alternative pronunciation.

It is not short for Esmeralda.

I've only ever known one and she pronounced it ez-mee, but characters on TV always seem to be ez-may. I think it's a beautiful name, particularly with the first pronunciation

Ezmee unless it has the accent, Esmé, in which case it is Ezmay.

Es-may

Esmay as it's a name of French origin.

Ez-may

Me too 😊 Pratchett inspired in our case. It didn't really occur to me people would pronounce it differently but loads of them do. When she started taking we had to ask the nursery workers to pronounce it our way because she was starting to call herself esmay 🙄

This.

Esme is pronounced Ezmee
Esmé is pronounced Ezmay

It's a pet hate of mine when people use the former and insist it's the pronunciation of the latter. Café is caffay. Cafe is caff.

Esmay as it's a name of French origin.

So is Chloe, but I've never heard a Britush person pronounce it klo-ay.

Ez- may

Ezmay

Ez Mee for me.

Ezmay

Ez may. Have only ever seen es mee as a pronunciation on here. Perhaps it is geographical.

Ez-me unless it has an accent. Esme (Ez-me) is an old traditional English name. Lots of people default to Ez-May though regardless of spelling or accents.

Ezz-May unless I'm aware of the preferred pronunciation

This