Hello All,
[name]Just[/name] read this beautiful girl name on a great vintage French name post here in the forums. Can anyone tell me how Ismérie would be pronounced in French? My guess is ees-[name]MAIR[/name]-ee.
Also if anyone could shed some light on it’s meaning that would be greatly appreciated. My quick research of it thus far has revealed that is mostly associated with a legendary St. Ismeria and medieval texts describe her as possibly being grandmother to [name]Jesus[/name]. Thank you for you help.
[name]Shelby[/name]
looks like Es-mer-ay to me… but i found Isméria too and i would say Es-mer-ay-ah so i think you are on the right lines x
French is a bit of a second language to me, and I believe that if you’re going by usual French pronunciation rules, you’d be correct.
Not totally sure of how to pronounce it, but it looks gorgeous. 
I would pronounce it sort of like you are, “eez-[name]MAY[/name]-ree”. Although in [name]America[/name] (if that’s where you are) I think you’d probably get “IZ-muh-ree” a lot.
I would pronounce it eez-[name]MAY[/name]-ree.
The stress would likely fall on the first syllable, but your pronunciation is phonetically correct: EES-may-rhee [with the French R].
The origins are debated. According to one French website it supposedly means ‘good prince’ from the Bretons or the proto-Celts. On another website, “C’est un prénom d’origine égyptienne. Ismérie est une princesses d’égypte du temps des croisades qui s’est reconvertie à la religion chrétienne (d’où sont origine biblique) aprés une apparition de la vierge [name]Marie[/name]. [name]Elle[/name] partit alors dans la région Picarde pour se réfugier dans un couvent. Ismérie veut dire equinoxe.” So she was an Egyptian princess who converted to Christianity, and her name means ‘equinox.’
Yet another says she and the saint venerated by the Spanish as [name]Imelda[/name] are the same, but that cannot be correct as [name]Imelda[/name] comes from Germanic Irmhild.
I think all of these theories are wrong. I actually think it’s a feminization of the biblical Hebrew name Ishmerai, meaning “God guards.” Perhaps there was an Arab girl named something like this who was converted, or carried back to Europe during the crusades, and it took off. There it was conflated or recycled to the St Ismeria story, the mother of St [name]Anne[/name], who was the mother of the Virgin [name]Mary[/name]. She became [name]Jesus[/name]’ great-grandmother. She was only ever discussed in one extant 14th c [name]Florentine[/name] manuscript, nothing older, so the timing would be right.
It seems to be very infrequently given; the highest annual total in [name]France[/name] is 21. It’s very pretty though!
Absolutely love this - so stunning! I would pronounce it EES-may-rhee, but I could be off - it looks like Esmeray to me, but that is of completely different origins.
Oh my goodness I think I’m in love. That name is right up my alley [name]LOVE[/name] IT and I don’t even know how to say it. I’m about to text a french friend and find out!!!
I love it! I’m a little hesitant on the pronunciation, but it is gorgeous on paper 
[name]Blade[/name], have I ever told you that you’re basically DA BOMB? So to speak 
cheers @sesh. It’s really very pretty.
I remember posting this name awhile back for Danta and I would say it’s prn “ees may ree” and from everything I can find it is related to St. Ismeria. [name]Edit[/name]: sorry if my description sucks, I would say @[name]Blade[/name] is correct in the prn.
If you have research or sources I would be interested in reading them because I’d like to know more about the name, from everything I can find it is related to St. Ismeria.
St Ismeria I think was invented (as were so many saints); as to why, that’s lost in the mists of time. She was only mentioned twice in history, two [name]Florentine[/name] manuscripts, though her cult took off much earlier, around the time of the Crusades. My guess is the one I mentioned above-- that the name Ishmerai (Ismerai in Arabic) was encountered and was exported with the crusaders. Perhaps there was a local legend or cult of Ismerai in the Levant at the time, or perhaps she was invented like so many other things to ground the crusades in biblical-historical legitimacy. Think of St [name]Helena[/name] and the cross, the hold grail, the shroud of Turin, and all the rest.
In French, as you well know, the Latinate -ia becomes -ie, so voila!: St Ismerie.
My grandmother’s name is Ismeria. It is said as iz-mare-ee-uh. I love it.
This is a pretty interesting theory and I can’t say that I can completely disagree since I have come across other French [name]Saint[/name] names that are very hard to find information or even correct Feast Days for which seems questionable. I will say there are names that look like they should be related but aren’t so I would love to be able to find some etymology behind both names to compare if there are any obvious links or conflicting information. Thanks for the info!
I’m definitely not an expert on French pronunciations but this is how I would pronounce it. Beautiful name!
Thank you everyone for the responses. Thank you, [name]Blade[/name], for the information- I had not come across the theory of it being a feminization of Ishmerai. That is interesting also. All the rest of the information, especially due to the medieval [name]Florentine[/name] manuscripts, seem to put its legend or rise near the time of the Crusades.
Another commenter from Behind the Name offered up this - “The name Ismeria, very probably a feminine variant of the Germanic Ismar, appears linked with the worship to Our Lady of Liesse. According to the legend, Ismeria was a Morish (sic) girl who was converted to the Christianism and released the crusaders captivated by her father because of the apparitions of [name]Mary[/name].” So if this is taken as true, it could actually further bolster the theory that it derives from Arab or Hebrew.
@eshelby, many of the Frebch sites I looked at cited the Lady of Liesse as well!
Also saw this referring to the name Ismeria - “Actually I think it´s is greek (sic) in it´s origin. It is supossed (sic) to mean “desire of love” according to a web site in portuguese .(Significado do nome Ismeria)”