Hi Swistle. I have a pronunciation question for you. Since having another girl recently, my husband and I are on the hunt for the next perfect name in case the next babe is a girl.
I love the look of Esme. And I always assumed it was pronounced Ehz-me but upon further research it looks like that is more the UK pronunciation where most in the USA go with Ehz-may. I was wondering if you and your readers have met anyone with this name and which pronunciation they went by. Also, I live in Canada… We tend to see similar trends as the USA but I find that sometimes our accents/pronunciations are slightly different so not sure if there are other fellow Canadians reading that could comment?
Thanks!
I have been pronouncing it EHZ-may.
The Oxford Dictionary of First Names doesn’t offer a pronunciation, but lists Esmie and Esmee as variants. Esmie looks to me like support for EHZ-mee, while Esmee could go either way: fiancé and fiancée are both pronounced with a -SAY, and Esmée is the original female version of the name; but -ee would usually be an -ie sound in the United States, almost never -ay.
The Baby Name Wizard lists the pronunciation as EHZ-may. There are some further (differing and agreeing) remarks by commenters here.
Inogolo lists the pronunciation as ehz-MAY, but notes: “In English this name is sometimes pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, and sometimes with the first syllable as -es-“—in other words, as EHZ-may or ESS-may.
Esmé Raji Codell, whose book Educating Esmé I really enjoyed (and I think that was my first encounter with the name), pronounces her name EHZ-may.
Howjsay offers three pronunciations, in this order: ess-MAY/MEE, ess-sm (what), and EHZ-may/mee. I listened to it again and again, but the way he pronounces the first one (and to a lesser extent the third one) continues to escape me: he says the vowel almost completely between long-A and long-E.
Forvo has one of each: a speaker from the United Kingdom pronounces it ESS-mee, and a speaker from Australia pronounces it EHZ-may—or really more like ehz-may, with almost equal emphasis.
The name is unusual in the United States (in 2013, it was given to 271 new baby girls), and of course we can’t know from the Social Security data base how parents are pronouncing it, but I wondered if alternate spellings might offer clues. There were 53 new baby girls given the spelling Esmae, which looks to me like an attempt to make the -may pronunciation clear. Another 14 were given the spelling Esmay. Another 38 new baby girls were given the spelling Esmee, which could be an attempt to emphasize a -mee pronunciation, or could be parents who know that Esmee was the original female version (at this point, and in the United States, Esme is the more common spelling, and is used almost exclusively for girls). Another 8 new baby girls were given the spelling Esmi, and another 8 were given Esmie, both of which look like the -mee pronunciation. Another 19 were Ezmae, which looks like -may; 9 were Ezme, which is unclear.
I wish the polls still worked, because I’ve noticed from past similar posts that the percentages indicated by comments are not necessarily representative of percentages indicated in the polls. But the polls DON’T work, and I haven’t yet found a new one I like, so we will just have to go by comments.
Do you know an Esme? What country is she from, and how does she pronounce her name?
While I do not personally know any Esme’s, I am from the U.S. and have always pronounced it Ehz-ME, long e. I
I’m in Canada (BC) and know one little Esme. It is pronounced EHZ-may, which is how I have always pronounced it.
I think it’s a great name!
The name is French and was originally a male name written as Esmé — pronounced EZ-may. The correct way to write the girl’s version of this name in French would be to add another “e”: Esmée — still pronounced Ez-may. That’s the correct pronunciation of the name. But in the UK where this name ranked in the top 100 names for girls in the most recent rankings (2013), the accent mark and additional “e’ are usually omitted and the name is most frequently written as Esme.
I have a young niece (age 3) with this name. She lives in Pennsylvania. Her parents decided not to use an accent mark and spell her name “Esme”. Her mom mentioned liking the name “May” that is part of the sound of their daughter’s name.
I love the name! Short and sweet, still fairly unknown in the US. You can’t go wrong with Esme (EZ-may)!
Yes. Correct. My daughters name is Esmè pronounced Ehz-may
I don’t know any personally either, but I’ve always pronounced it EZ-may. I think that’s how it was said in Twilight too? Not that Twilight should be/is the standard, but it’s an example some people would be familiar with.
Ditto to all this.
Yep. I actually control+f -ed “Twilight” to see if anyone else would mention that. I feel like the name was rarer (with the knowledge that my “feelings” may not be based in stats!) and Twilight made it more “known” so that pronunciation will be more common to people.
My boss is an Esme and pronounces her name EZ-mee. We’re in the UK.
I live in England and my name is esme and i pronounce it like that
I’m in the US, and I’m a teacher. Unless corrected, we say: “EZ-may.”
Great name! Tricky pronunciation… If you want something different, go for it but be prepared for challenge.
I was always under the impression that Es-may was more the continental/French way to say it. While Es-mee is more popular in the UK & the US. I’m always a bit surprised when I hear an American say Es-may. Perhaps it’s one of those names with regional pronunciations? FWIW, I’m in the central midwest.
I have known 2 Esme’s & both said Es-mee. One is a mid 30’s woman with Hispanic heritage & the other is a little girl in my son’s school (Kindergarten).
That is so interesting/crazy.. I live in NYC, teach school, and it’s always EZ-may as default for Esme, Esmee, plus any accent marks parents add.
I live in the US, and I was unaware that there were any pronunciation variations for the name Esme. I’ve always said it EHZ-may and never considered that there could be another pronunciation.
As Kate mentions, EHZ-may is the pronunciation in the Twilight movies–probably not something your daughter’s peers would be influenced by, but I think that a decent amount of ~18-30 year old females would be influenced by the Twilight pronunciation.
I’m from canada (BC) and I pronounce it EZ-may. That’s the correct french pronounciation, I echo the PP who said it actually needs the accent aigu to be pronounced May as opposed to Mee, so technically, you’re pronouncing it correctly as EZ-mee if you omit the aigu. That being said, it’s not the same name if you omit the aigu. I have a french name that has an aigu and of course many people and paperwork have omitted it over the years, but french speakers and teachers have instilled in me that without the aigu, it’s a totally different pronounciation, and a laughable one. You say you live in Canada, so I assume your daughter will enter the same one day in school. That being said, dropping the aigu has become an acceptable, if not correct, spelling. I’d go with the EZ-may pronunciation no matter whether you choose to include the aigu or not.
The parents of my niece Esme liked the name’s literary connections from J.D. Salinger’s short story, “For Esmé–With Love and Squalor”. There is no doubt about how Salinger intended Esmé to be pronounced as he used the aigu. But our Esme’s parents didn’t think most Americans would know the meaning of that accent mark anyway and so decided not to use it. Too, they thought that using the aigu here would probably just be an unnecessary hassle because it would be omitted on many records. (SSA doesn’t include accent marks when calculating baby name popularity, so we have no way of knowing how each little Esme/Esmee’s name is pronounced.)
In the last-released baby name stats for England/Wales where Esme is used far more frequently, the name appears with 5 different spellings in the top 1000 names for baby girls in 2013:
Esme – ranks at #58
Esmae – #153
Esmee – #260
Esmai – #561
Esmay – #584
Three of these spellings are clearly intended to be pronounced as EZ-may. Two are more ambiguous: are they the French Esmé / Esmée without the accent mark — thus pronounced as EZ-may — or are they, especially Esmee, intended to represent EZ-me?
There are a LOT of names that are pronounced more than one way. I wouldn’t let that stop you from using a name that BNW calls “a rare [name that] used to be a bit of a secret prized by the literary and artistic elite… Okay, the secret is out, but please don’t panic. Esme remains chic and uncommon…”
Sorry– if they’re references For Esme, With Love and Squalor-
what pronunciation are they using?
Ez-may for sure because of the accent mark.
Esmé is discussed and pronounced here (“EZ-may”), with mention of J.D. Salinger’s short story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idz1blQ5k5U (at 2:00)
I know a 4-year-old Esme in the Pacific Northwest, and her name is pronounced EHZ-may.
I live in Alberta, Canada. I am surprised to learn that this name is so uncommon, as I know two little girls with this name! One is Esme (with the accent aigue), and one is Esmae. What a beautiful name, regardless of how you spell it! Like others have mentioned, I think you could tweak the spelling to get the pronunciation you are after – though I do love the EZ-may pronunciation!
I’m from the U.S. and have always pronounced it EHZ-mee, but am realizing I’ve never really heard it said out loud. It seems to me that either could be correct, and you’ll just have to pick the one you like best, knowing that there will always be someone who thinks it should be pronounced the other way.
I’ve never met one, but there’s a character named Esme in Series of Unfortunate Events and the narrator of the audiobooks pronounces it EZ-may
I did summer theatre with a girl named Esme. She pronounced it Ehz-me, and so did I, but I know people would also pronounce it Ehz-may. She didn’t really care as long as it was close enough and she knew they were talking to her. Ehz-may is kind of an awkward pronounciation to me. When I hear it pronounced that way, I automatically think of Twilight.
Twilight is my only association with the name, but to be honest, I couldn’t remember how it was pronounced until I read the comments above.
The parents of the Gardner quadruplets (who were recently born in Utah, USA) pronounce their daughter Esme’s name as “ehz-mee”. They stated in their blog that they understood the pronunciation is often “ehz-may” but that they chose “ehz-mee” because they liked it pronounced that way. I say go with what you like…there are no rules for certain names and this one of them (especially without the accent mark)! I have met several Esme’s with both pronunciations represented equally. I’m in the Midwest.
I live in Ontario. Growing up I would have assumed it was Es-mee. Now I can see it going either way. It is a really pretty name, either pronunciation.
I live in Ontario Canada and I’ve never met an Esme in real life, but I’ve always pronounced it ES-may. That being said, I don’t think I would have a problem remembering to use a different pronunciation if corrected.
I know a few Esme and it’s always been pronounced ez-mee. I’m from Canada. I didn’t know there was a way to pronounce it differently.
I’m from the US and say and have heard ezmay. I was surprised to hear it is pronounced differently sometimes.
A fellow Canadian here. I would generally assume the French pronunciation of Ez-may unless told otherwise.
I first heard the name on twilight and its Ez-may. Subs then I have met teo babies by this name, both Ez-may. One was of Indian descent and she was named after his mom.
Australian here. I know one Esmé (EHZ-may) and one Esmay.
I’ve always loved the name and I’ve always pronounced it EHZ-may. My personal favourite spelling is Esme, without the accent (I’d pronounce it EHZ-may either way).
I think it’s a beautiful name!
Also australian and I was unaware there was a choice other than ehz-may.
There was a well loved tv character in the 80’s named esme Watkins pronounced as ehz-may so that may have cemented it in my mind (she was an old fussy lady on an australian drama btw).
U.S. citizen. Okay, when I read the original post, I thought, “Pfft! What craziness is this?! Of COURSE it’s pronounced ‘EHZ-mee’.” This has been very eye-opening! Love the name either way.
Obviously a very useful post, Swistle!
US Midwesterner here. When I first saw this post, I was like “Wait, there is another pronunciation besides EHZ-may?” Color me surprised. I’ve encountered two babies named Esme and they have both used that pronunciation as well.
I know only two Esmes and both were pronounced EHZ-may. I live in Minnesota.
To my knowledge, this is a French name originally spelled Esmé/Esmée and, like René/Renée, is pronounced with an “AY” sound, made by the “accent aigu” over the letter E.
So, to sum up, I think that the French pronunciation is definitely EHZ-may. The question is, whether it has been Anglicized enough in some communities that you could get away with EHZ-mee if you preferred. I think you probably could, but in my circle it would definitely raise eyebrows as most people have at least heard the name (one of the aforementioned people with the name is a local celebrity, so my perception of how familiar people are with this name may be skewed) or are familiar with French pronunciation. I would expect a child whose name was spelled Esme/Esmee but pronounced “EHZ-mee” to correct people throughout her life.
I live in New England and don’t know anyone with the name personally but have always heard it said and read it as Ehz-May. I don’t speak French but I would compare it to the name Renee (reads/sounds like Ren-Ae). Pretty name that I associate with Twilight but my demographic would mostly know it based on that.
My daughter is Esme, pronounced Ehz-may.
I live in the US and am in my 20’s, my only association with the name is twilight, so I pronounce it Ehz-may. I like the idea of alternate spellings if you want it pronounced a certain way.
From Toronto/Ottawa. Would definitely pronounce it EHZmay until corrected, accent or no.
I live in the US. I know an Esme (not an adult), and her name is pronounced EHZ-may, which is also how I would be inclined to pronounce it myself. Best of luck!
From Toronto, I work with kids and have met multiple girls (and a few adults) named Esme, all pronounced EHZ-may. To be honest I didn’t even know there was an alternate pronunciation until recently. It’s a beautiful name either way!
Californian here, Definite Ehz-may, never heard it with a long e.
My only real-life encounter with an Esmée is an American youngster whose mother is Northern European. So their EHZ-MAY (equal accents) pronunciation has been my default. This thread is bumming me out that Esme is 1) a Twilight name, and 2) often said EHZ-mee.
Canadian from Vancouver, BC here who did French immersion for my public school years, and I’ve always pronounced it the French way: Ez-may. I’ve also only ever heard it pronounced this way, even by non-French speakers. But I think the name is uncommon enough that you could just decide you’re pronouncing it differently, and people will accept that once they know!
I’m an American living in the UK and have met many baby Esmes here. Every one of them has been pronounced EHZ-mee. I always notice it because in the US/Twilight, it’s definitely more EHZ-may. I would have pronounced it that way except I’ve been corrected by all the Brits with Esmes, so now I say mee instead of may.
We named my daughter Esme and pronounce it Ehz-may. We call her Ezzy. She seems to love it and she’s only two.
My 3-year-old niece Esme (Ez-may) is sometimes called Ezzie too. Very cute!
From Southwest USA, we there is an Esme (no aigu) in my son’s daycare and she is EZH-MAE equal weight.
In my mind when I read it, it’s Ehz-mee. In real life I understand that not to be the common pronunciation so I’m just not sure and try to never say it aloud.
I work with a girl named Esme short for Esmeralda, and she pronounces it Ehz-mee, but it’s as a nickname. I went to high school with someone who named her daughter Esme last year, and I have no idea how she pronounces it. I have been guessing Ess-may, but…I dunno.
I’m Canadian, but think I first encountered the name in Australia. Regardless, I pronounce it Ez-may automatically (when seeing it written) but wouldn’t be particularly surprised if I heard someone use Ez-me or correct my pronunciation of their use of the name.
Much like many Caro-LYN’s (my own name) are spelled Caro-LINE but people correct the pronunciation.
Gosh! This is fascinating! I never knew there was another (very widely, apparently) acceptable way to pronounce Esme. I’m in the U.S., and have always said Ehz-MAY. This is the way the little girl in my son’s preschool says her name.
It’s such a pretty name, and I actually like both pronunciations! And I’d think it would be an easy correction to whichever pronunciation you prefer.
I’ve always pronounced it ES-meh. I’m originally from Germany, where I seem to remember meeting a few Esmes from Turkey or the Maghreb — which makes sense if the name was originally French, which I didn’t know!
If I saw the spelling Esmé or Esmée, I’d pronounce it the French way: Es-MEH.
Americans have trouble pronouncing a long, straight EH and usually turn it into an EE or AY sound. They also don’t usually pronounce short EHs, and turn them into UHs instead.
Actually, North Americans anglophones do distinguish some of sounds you are describing. The EH we are writing corresponds to the e in Schnell, though yes, we do tend to turn our long A’s, as in Schnee, into an diphthong, AY. If I encountered a francophone Esme, I would avoid the diphthong. If I encountered an anglophone Esme, I avoid avoiding the diphthong so as to avoid sounding affected.
I’m not sure I’ve ever met an Esme/Esmé, but I am, coincidentally, currently listening to a Terry Pratchett audiobook, with a character named Esme (short for Esmerelda), and the (British) narrator pronounces it ehz-mEE. I live in the US, and if I met someone here with her name spelled Esmé, I’d definitely assume ehz-mAY, but if the final e is unaccented, I’d be unsurprised by either rthe ehz-mEE or ehz-mAY pronunciations.
i work with an Esme, and she pronounces it EZ-may!
This name is a top contender for us if we have another little girl (first daughter’s name is Pearl). We would spell it Esmée and pronounce it Ez-may. The name would be in honour of the child’s grandmothers- Suzanne and Mary. One grandmother has a French name (Suzanne), and the other was a French teacher (Mary), and the name pronounced Ez-May sounds like a combination of two sounds in the grandmother’s names- suZanne and Mary (eZ-MAy). However, looking at this comments, my lingering doubts about this name are:
1) It is not pronounced or spelled intuitively
2) The accent would be an added difficulty and likely omitted in many documents, etc.
3) The name is already very popular in the UK (number 36 all combined spellings!)- though we live in Australia.
4) None of the candidates for other children’s names have accents
So difficult. I love this name and think we have a link to our family to use it- yet what I love about Pearl’s name is how crystal clear it is to spell and say. Pearl was named for her great-grandmother.
I knew several Esmés in school, all Mexican girls using it as a short version of Esmeralda.
I am from South Africa where Esme is a fairly popular name in the Afrikaans(South African Dutch descendants) culture and the pronunciation is almost exclusively ez-may, however I did meet someone, also Afrikaans, who pronounces and spells her name Esmi (ez-mee).
I don’t personally know an Esme, but I’ve always pronounced it (and heard it pronounced) ESS-may.
We named our cat Esme in 2009 :) Why yes, it was at the height of Twilight and was inspired by the books, why do you ask?? I first learned of the name while reading the books and did not know how to pronounce it. I copied the pronounciation from the movies, which is EZ-may and the one we use. I love it! Everyone who hears of it also likes it. I would say most everyone knew to pronounce it EZ-may, likely because of Twilight.
I recently had a student ask me if I named my cat after “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, because apparently there is an Esme in the series, also pronounced EZ-may.
I would be shocked to hear it pronounced EZ-mee here in the U.S., because it seems that a lot of recent pop culture pronounces if EZ-may, and that’s how a lot of us heard of the name. If you’re in the U.S., you shouldn’t have any trouble and I would use the name! The feedback I’ve gotten just for my cat has been great, so it’d be even better for a child :)
You stated that Esmee was the original pronunciation: “or could be parents who know that Esmee was the original female version” but that is inaccurate. This was originally a french name which was pronounced Ehz-may. We do not use the french accent in the US or UK so the Esmee pronunciation is becoming common in English speaking countries but is not the original pronunciation.
Esmee is pronounced Ez-May. Just like Estee Lauder, Fiancee, Renee, etc. It is a French feminine form of the name. Thus, Esmee pronounced Ez-may is the original version and pronunciation of the female name. Esmee, in French, has an accent over the middle “e.”
I know an esme and we call her es mee
So yeah
We live in Chicago and pronounce our daughter’s name, Esmé, as EHZ-may. One interesting thing we’ve learned is that Esme is a common nickname for Esmerelda, a fairly common name among Chicago’s Spanish-speaking population. However in this case it seems to be pronounced ESS-may.