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Help[Facts] es-MAY, and it should be a boy's name
in reply to a message by quennoo
Argh, I can't help myself with this name and its obligatory rant!
Esmé was first known to be borne by a male, Esmé Stewart (or Stuart), 1st Duke of Lennox: he was born in 1542 to a French mother (Anne de La Queuille) and an English father (John Stewart/Stuart, 5th Lord of Aubigny). Additionally, Esmé is by all accounts grammatically masculine in French; the proper feminine form would be Esmée (pronounced the same as Esmé; cf. René / Renée, Aimé / Aimée).
Miranda
Esmé was first known to be borne by a male, Esmé Stewart (or Stuart), 1st Duke of Lennox: he was born in 1542 to a French mother (Anne de La Queuille) and an English father (John Stewart/Stuart, 5th Lord of Aubigny). Additionally, Esmé is by all accounts grammatically masculine in French; the proper feminine form would be Esmée (pronounced the same as Esmé; cf. René / Renée, Aimé / Aimée).
Miranda
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Replies
Nobody could dispute this - but if you look at the actual usage of the name, certainly here in South Africa, it is as fem as a name can be. I've never come across a local male one.
Spelling is notoriously haphazard ... consider all the Annabelle and Isabelle little girls, who "should" be Annabel and Isabel, whatever "should" means.
It would be interesting to know whether it is still in use in Scotland, in the Stuart/ Darnley families or elsewhere, and if so, what gender it has migrated to.
South Africans are memorably lousy at French, although we are proud of our Huguenot heritage. French and "French" names are popular in families with originally French surnames like Joubert and Du Plessis ... by "French" I mean such strange productions as Georges (pronounced like the English George), Charl (to avoid confusion with the English Charles) and Cezanne (for a girl; apparently a jazz variation on Suzanne with a nod to the Fine Art department). So it isn't surprising to find the odd solecism here. I do know an Afrikaans teenage boy called (and correctly pronounced) Rene; one of my teachers at high school was known to one and all as Esme, and only at her death did we all discover that in her case Esme was a nickname for Esther.
All the best
Spelling is notoriously haphazard ... consider all the Annabelle and Isabelle little girls, who "should" be Annabel and Isabel, whatever "should" means.
It would be interesting to know whether it is still in use in Scotland, in the Stuart/ Darnley families or elsewhere, and if so, what gender it has migrated to.
South Africans are memorably lousy at French, although we are proud of our Huguenot heritage. French and "French" names are popular in families with originally French surnames like Joubert and Du Plessis ... by "French" I mean such strange productions as Georges (pronounced like the English George), Charl (to avoid confusion with the English Charles) and Cezanne (for a girl; apparently a jazz variation on Suzanne with a nod to the Fine Art department). So it isn't surprising to find the odd solecism here. I do know an Afrikaans teenage boy called (and correctly pronounced) Rene; one of my teachers at high school was known to one and all as Esme, and only at her death did we all discover that in her case Esme was a nickname for Esther.
All the best
1