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HelpRe: Esmé vs. Esmée
in reply to a message by Theodora'sMommy
They're nice. Not favorites of mine.
It doesn't bother me about the gendered forms, although it might if I were French myself. I like the feminine name about the same whether it's French-style or Esme. I don't really go for Esme on a guy.
Where I live, at least, Esme is just much easier for people to get right - and it's the same name. And it's not like people would mistake it for a guy's name. I think people would be liable to missay Esmée as "Ez-mee," too. So if I liked Esme for a girl I wouldn't hesitate to use it. I mean, if she goes to France or something, she can always tack on an E and a mark, it's not really like she's changing her name.
Tons of names are taken from French to English and change their gender, pronunciation, and spelling in the process. It's not a terrible thing. The French take English names and sometimes respell them, too. Keeping a name close to its roots *and* borrowing it into another language usage, isn't really possible anyway.
Esme as a nick for Esmeralda would be okay. Again though, slightly prone to become "Es-mee."
My perception of a name doesn't really change that much based on current popular characters. You never know how long they'll be around, nor how much your own exposure to the character distorts how important it seems to you. I would just check if at least some other people are using it in real life. If they are, then it's cool to use. Otherwise I'd be a little worried that people (or my kid) would think I named her after the character, and I think that'd be undesirable.
- mirfak
It doesn't bother me about the gendered forms, although it might if I were French myself. I like the feminine name about the same whether it's French-style or Esme. I don't really go for Esme on a guy.
Where I live, at least, Esme is just much easier for people to get right - and it's the same name. And it's not like people would mistake it for a guy's name. I think people would be liable to missay Esmée as "Ez-mee," too. So if I liked Esme for a girl I wouldn't hesitate to use it. I mean, if she goes to France or something, she can always tack on an E and a mark, it's not really like she's changing her name.
Tons of names are taken from French to English and change their gender, pronunciation, and spelling in the process. It's not a terrible thing. The French take English names and sometimes respell them, too. Keeping a name close to its roots *and* borrowing it into another language usage, isn't really possible anyway.
Esme as a nick for Esmeralda would be okay. Again though, slightly prone to become "Es-mee."
My perception of a name doesn't really change that much based on current popular characters. You never know how long they'll be around, nor how much your own exposure to the character distorts how important it seems to you. I would just check if at least some other people are using it in real life. If they are, then it's cool to use. Otherwise I'd be a little worried that people (or my kid) would think I named her after the character, and I think that'd be undesirable.
- mirfak
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