I was surprised to see that [name]Esme[/name] was once a unisex name and Esmee is more feminine version of [name]Esme[/name]. Esmee seems to have too many e’s but what do you think? [name]Esme[/name] or Esmee?
I don’t have a strong preference but Esmee seems to follow the pattern of [name]Renee[/name] and [name]Desiree[/name]. But in English we need that E to keep [name]Rene[/name] from beng Reen and [name]Desiree[/name] from being Desire, with [name]Esme[/name] I don’t think the same things apply.
It’s the same with most French names, e.g. [name]Ren[/name]é (male), [name]Ren[/name]ée (female). This is because in the French language “é” ending is usually masculine and the “ée” ending is usually feminine, e.g. protégé (male), protégée (female).
I prefer the look of Esmé because it’s more streamlined, and of course in English-speaking countries the accent is likely to be dropped, making Esmée (EZ-mee) rather than (EZ-may).
If you have any connection to [name]France[/name] or speak French then I would use Esmée for a girl, as that is the feminine form in [name]France[/name].
That being said I do prefer the ‘streamlined’ look of Esmé. I also have a fondness for J.D [name]Salinger[/name]'s 1959 story For Esmé, with [name]Love[/name] and Squalor- which he spelled with one E . I think the spelling has been Anglicized from the French enough that Esmé is seen more commonly in English speaking countries. That being said, the French may take issue with that.
I like both, but I’d probably go with Esmé. Its a firm favorite of mine, despite the Twilight connection.
I prefer [name]Esme[/name].
I prefer [name]Esme[/name], as Esmee just sounds sort of made up
I know its unfair to people who have liked this name for years but the Twilight connection is too much for me. As far as I know from looking at other sites neither [name]Esme[/name] or Esmee* has ever been popular in the US or [name]France[/name] before the books so I think the series has made it universally popular.
[name]Both[/name] spellings look fine to me but when I look Esmee up on some French sites it isnt recognized at all. In fact I just viewed a discussion board for the name on www.mamanandco.fr and everyone commented how its beautiful but from Twilight lol
[name]Esme[/name] is my preferred spelling of this gorgeous name. Esmée just looks like overkill to me. Sometimes simplicity is the best choice. I don’t care about the Twilight association. [name]Esme[/name] HAS been around and [name]WILL[/name] be around far longer than the vampire craze.
I’m going to go against everyone and say Esmée. I don’t have a ton of French background, but I do have a little, and to me, [name]Esme[/name] is firmly the masculine form and Esmée is the feminine. I’ve considered Esmée before (love it, actually), but I could never use the [name]Esme[/name] spelling. It just looks incomplete to me. When ever I see [name]Esme[/name], I’m tempted to pronounce it Es-mm, not ez-[name]MAY[/name].
Good luck!
[name]Love[/name] [name]Esme[/name].
Aufeminin.com, journalsdesfemmes and tous-les-prenoms.com all have [name]Esme[/name] and Esmee down as a girls name only so Im not sure about the unisex thing (I had never even heard of [name]Esme[/name] until Twilight so I could be wrong). All the boards on those sites seem to reference Twlight too lol.
Wow I looked it up on Wikipedia and it really is a guys name or at least the name of some English Dukes! Esmé - Wikipedia