Spelling and middle name help

Ok so thanks to all of you wonderful berries DH and I have agreed on [name_f]Esme[/name_f] as dd2s first name. Now how would you spell it? Esmé or Esmée? I want it to be pronounced Ez-may/ Es-[name_f]May[/name_f] so I’m thinking I have to use an accent, right? Also we are now on the hunt for a middle name. All suggestions are welcomed! Thanks so much for your help!!!

Mns that we have come up with so far:

[name_f]Josephine[/name_f]
[name_f]Scarlet[/name_f]
[name_f]Charlotte[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Rose[/name_f]- I feel like this is a filler name

I prefer the [name_m]French[/name_m] Esmée spelling of all the options.

Of your suggested middles, I like [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] the best. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you want another [name_m]French[/name_m] sounding name? Some [name_m]French[/name_m] names that I think might work well are:

Esmée [name_f]Delphine[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Marguerite[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Mignon[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Raphaelle[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Fabienne[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Mireille[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Giselle[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Veronique[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Melisande[/name_f]

or non-[name_m]French[/name_m]

Esmée [name_f]Persephone[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Viveca[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Mirabai[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Margaret[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Ferelith[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Marigold[/name_f]
Esmée [name_f]Cosima[/name_f]

For the Es-may prn. I’d spell it [name_f]Esme[/name_f]. Since the accent is [name_m]French[/name_m] and contrary to popular American (generally English) belief, no, the é is not pronounced “may”, so spelling it Esmé and prn. it es-may would be more wrong than just spelling it [name_f]Esme[/name_f].
From your options, [name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] is really beautiful, I’m not too fond of the others with [name_f]Esme[/name_f] (though they are all lovely names).

[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Cordelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Caroline[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Helena[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Violet[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Fiona[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Viola[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Leonore[/name_f]/a
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Juliet[/name_f]/te
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Coraline[/name_f]

Spell it [name_f]Esme[/name_f]. I’m in the US and I have an accent mark over my middle name. I just dropped it and never include it.

I vastly prefer the Esmé spelling to Esmée spelling. I think the extra e looks unnecessary. I know an [name_f]Esme[/name_f] who spells her name like this and goes by Ez-[name_f]May[/name_f], so without the accent works too. But, I also know an [name_f]Esme[/name_f] (spelled like this) who pronounces it Ez-me. Personally, I prefer it without the accent, but it depends on where you’re living.

My personal favourite [name_f]Esme[/name_f] combo is [name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Violet[/name_f] (or you could do [name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Violette[/name_f] if you wanted it a bit more french). I think [name_f]Violet[/name_f]/te works so well with [name_f]Esme[/name_f], but I can’t say why exactly. It just fits perfectly for me. It lightens [name_f]Esme[/name_f] just a little, makes it a bit more nature-y, but keeps her feet planted firmly on the ground.

Out of your MN options, I like [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] best with [name_f]Esme[/name_f]. I find [name_f]Jane[/name_f] & [name_f]Rose[/name_f] both too short next to [name_f]Esme[/name_f], I find [name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Scarlet[/name_f] very S heavy, and [name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] is ok, I just prefer [name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f].

The mn does not have to be or sound [name_m]French[/name_m] :slight_smile: love [name_f]Marigold[/name_f]

[name_m]Just[/name_m] spell it [name_f]Esme[/name_f]. The name is known well enough that ez-may will be the pronunciation used by people whether or not it has an accent mark. The accent mark will always just be dropped anyway and the extra e looks unnecessary. [name_f]Esme[/name_f] is a lovely name.

Some middle suggestions:

[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Colette[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Magnolia[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Juliana[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Irene[/name_f]

It’s good to know many of you suggest [name_f]Esme[/name_f] with no accent. I figured she would never write it if I used the accent. [name_f]Magnolia[/name_f] was on the list of first names… It never crossed my mind to use it as a mn. Thanks!

I don’t know if this is the case where you live, but here in the UK, the pronunciation of [name_f]Esme[/name_f] is well-known. Unless you live in a country where diacritical marks are used often, I would say that the accent is unnecessary, and is difficult to type on a standard English-language keyboard.

Some combo ideas:
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Lillian[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Adeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Annabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Aurora[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Clementine[/name_f]

I live in the US. I would say [name_f]Esme[/name_f] is not a common name here (or at least in GA) so I will probably be correcting others but I don’t mind. I think once it’s corrected they will remember. I love all of your mn suggestions.

I prefer Esmé to Esmée. I just think it looks more chic/elegant. I spell it [name_f]Esme[/name_f] and still pronounce it ez-may.

Esmé [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] and Esmé [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] are both gorgeous. I think Esmé [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] is my fave.

Other combos I like (if you’re still open):

Esmé [name_f]Lavender[/name_f]
Esmé [name_f]Caroline[/name_f]/[name_f]Coraline[/name_f]
Esmé [name_f]Cordelia[/name_f]
Esmé [name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
Esmé [name_f]Fiona[/name_f]
Esmé [name_f]Vivienne[/name_f]
Esmé [name_f]Victoria[/name_f]

Good luck, and congrats!

I like the es-may pronunciation.

[name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] and [name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] are lovely.

If you are American, [name_f]Esme[/name_f] is fine. It does not need the accent.

I would spell it [name_f]Esme[/name_f]. From your middle name choices I think [name_f]Esme[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] has the best flow!