Name of the Week: Esme

 

 

Origin:

Esme (or Esmé) was first borne by Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox (1542-1583). His father was Scottish-French nobleman John Stewart, 5th Lord of Aubigny -- brother of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, grandfather of James I/VI and Regent of Scotland between 1570 and 1571 -- and his mother was Frenchwoman Anne de la Queuille.  Ostensibly, Esmé derives from the Old French (and now obsolete) verb esmer "to esteem, to value, to appraise." Many linguists argue that, from an early date**, esmer (from the Latin aestimāre "to estimate, value, weigh, appraise") became conflated with the Old French amer* (from the Latin amare "to love, to like") which later both became aimer "to like, to love" in Middle (and modern) French.*  To add further weight to this homophony between esmer and amer, E.G.Withycombe points out that within the Stewart family, Esmé was sometimes spelled Aymie, suggesting that it was originally intended as a form of the well used French name Aimé/Amé which was most certainly from aimer "to love, to like." Esmée is a French feminine form of Esmé. However, Esmé was being used for girls from at least the 17th century in Britain. Rather than appropriation of Aimé/Esmé, these cases were most likely variant spellings of the obscure medieval feminine name Ismay which appears to be of native Celtic origin.

Usage:

Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox (1542-1583) was brought up in France. His mother was French and his father was a Scottish nobleman who held the title of the 5th Lord of Aubigny. At the age of 37, he travelled from France to the Scottish court of the young James VI of Scotland. He became an immediate favourite with the king and was created Earl of Lennox, on 5 March 1580, and then Duke of Lennox on 5 August 1581. Scots noble Sir James Melville, described Esmé as being "upright, just, and gentle."* The Duke of Lennox named one of his sons Esmé, who later became the 3rd Duke. Thus, the name Esmé passed through the aristocracy.  Examples of baptisms for boys named Esmé can be found in Scotland, England and France from the 17th century though they are rather rare. At the same time, there are also a few examples of girls baptised with the name, such as Esyme Chester in Cambridge in 1631; Esme Pope in Devon in 1666 and Esmay Kelley in London 1699. The latter spelling in particular suggest that Ismay was the source of these names.  In the 19th century, Esme became mainstream in Britain, as births per decade in England and Wales show (see below). For the most part, the majority of the births in the latter half of the 19th century were female, though it still continued to be used for boys as well. For example, the 1871 census lists 17 males and 5 females; on the 1891 census there are 21 males and 113 females.  1840s: 3 births 1850s: 4 births 1860s: 7 births 1870s: 17 births 1880s: 132 births 1890s: 345 births 1900s: 898 births 1910s: 1626 births 1920s: 2523 births 1930s: 1409 births 1940s: 570 births The boost in births in the 1870s coincided, perhaps coincidentally, with a rise in the name Esmeralda which may have been a factor in Esme's popularity for girls. Another influence may have been the popularity of the numerous novels by Esmè Stuart, the pseudonym of English writer Amélie Claire Leroy who published novels between 1876 and 1920. The name reached a peak of popularity in the 1920s which is supported Dunkling's data for the number of children registered with the name Esmé in every 10,000 births in England and Wales over the 20th century:  1900 1925  1935  1950  1955  1960  1965  1970  1975  1980  1985  1990     2    8     8     -     2     -     -     -     1     -     1    - Despite this growth, the name never reached the top 100 in either England and Wales or native Scotland in the 20th century. Since the turn of the century, Esme has been on a rapid rise for girls in Britain. It is now almost exclusively female in use, having not ranked in either England, Wales or Scotland for boys since 1996.  In England and Wales, Esme rose up steadily, reaching #100 (555 births) in 2008. In six years that birth count has more than doubled, ranking #50 (1151 births) in 2014. When all spellings are combined, however, it ranks #31.  In Scotland, Esme reached the top 100 in 2013 at #93 (53 births), rising to #77 (69 births) in 2014 and #57 (87 births) in 2015.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox (1542–1583), favourite of James I/VI. * Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox (1579–1624), son of the above. * Esmé Stuart, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox (1649–1660), grandson of the above. * Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith (1863–1939), British diplomat. * (Saville) Esmé Percy (1887–1957), British actor.  * Esme Melville (1918–2006), Australian actress. * Esme Langley (1919–1991), British writer (pseudonym Ann Bruce).  * Esme Irwin (1931–2001), British women's cricket player Contemporary: * Esmé Raji Codell (b. 1968), American author. * Esmé Bianco (b. 1982), British model and actress. * Esmée Denters (b. 1988), Dutch singer. Literature and Other Media: * Esmé, a character in the short story For Esmé – with Love and Squalor (1950) by J.D. Salinger. * Esme, a character in The Recognitions (1955) by William Gaddis. * Esme Cullen, a character in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. * Esme Weatherwax, a witch in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchet. * The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (2006), a novel by Maggie O'Farrell. * Esme (1919), a portrait of a woman by British artist William Clarke Wontner.

Variants:

Esmée (French), Esmae, Esmay, Esmai, Esmie, Ezmai, Ezme, Ezmay

Pronunciation:

EZ-may; EZ-mee [key]

Possible  longer forms:

Esmeralda, Emerenz, Emerenziana

Sibling Names:

Thea     Bella     Isla     Phoebe     Ivy     Darcy  Arlo     Arthur     Leo     Reuben     Jude     Milo

Name Lists:

Ripe Renovations   Short and Sweet

  

If you like Esme you may also like:   Alba, Elsa, Orla, Maeve, Elsie, Arabella, Lacey, Iona, Lila, Eadie

 

Thanks to Cara for requesting this post.