How would you pronounce Esme?

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Would you pronounce it Ez-me

Or would you pronounce it Ez-may

I don't live in the UK and it's always pronounced as Ez-may here. However I work with someone who moved here from the UK and she pronounces it Ez-me - and as far as I know she isn't a MNer. I think it's a UK thing (but obviously not everyone there).

I've only heard it pronounced Ezmay

May

Ez

Ez-me.

I’ve only ever known one Esme, she’s in her 70s now, and that is how her name is pronounced.

Ez-mee because there's no accent above the last e. If spelt Esmé then that changes the pronunciation to Ez-may

The only Esme I have known pronounced it Es-Me. She was from Yorkshire if that makes any difference

Esme is Es-mee or Ez-mee. It’s been used in the U.K. since the 1600s, so it’s a good old name with plenty of heritage.

Esmée is Ez-may (well, not quite ay, but you know what I mean. Like the e acute is café) - French spelling and pronunciation

There’s also a strong Scottish tradition with the name Esme, pronounced me at the end. I’ve been having this argument since 2007 when I named my daughter Esme.

We hate hate hate the May ending. Sounds like Dismay.

Esmé is actually the masculine spelling

Esmée is the feminine spelling.

Esmy

Ez-May.

ezmee sounds a bit…..😳

This Scot never heard of Es-Mee being acceptable 😂

Maybe you just need to get out more?

Agree with this. If no accent, why would the 2nd E be pronounced with an ay sound? But then if the person whose name it was said 'actually it's esmay' I would then say it that way

For those that want the Esmay pronunciation, why not spell it that way?

Why should Esme be pronounced like that? Even the French pronunciation of Esmé is not Esmay!

very much depends where..

What is the actual (ie correct) French pronunciation?

The french pronunciation of Esmé is more Esmeh than Esmay. Hard to describe in words, but try googling a native french pronunciation.

I too was born abroad and moved to the UK 20yrs ago. Growing up, I knew of many elderly ladies who all pronounced it Ez-may. Its only recently, on MN, I've ever heard of the Ez-Mee pronunciation, but maybe it is more common in the UK than I knew?

Ez-May

Ez may

Ez-mee.

I really dislike it Ez-may

And Ez-May is the new fangled way of saying it

It’s really not.