Esmé (more commonly Esme) or Esmée is a feminine (sometimes masculine) given name, from the past participle of the Old French verb '' esmer'', "to esteem", thus signifying "esteemed". Another theory is that ''esmer'' is an alternative spelling of today's ''aimer'', "to love", thus the name is ''aimé'', meaning "beloved", equivalent to the modern feminine first name "Amy". Originally a masculine name, Esme had become a feminine name by the mid-twentieth century. The name was first popularised by

Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, 1st Earl of Lennox, 6th Seigneur d'Aubigny (26 May 1583) of the Château d'Aubigny at Aubigny-sur-Nère in the ancient Provinces of France, province of Berry, France, Berry, France, was a Catholic French nob ...

(1542–1583), a French nobleman of Scottish origins who returned to Scotland for part of his life. However with regard to spelling (and pronunciation), on one of his surviving letters, dated 1583, he signed himself "Amy". Esme was among the 100 most popular baby names for girls in the UK in 2015. Esme is also used as a short form for the Spanish feminine name Esmeralda, meaning "emerald".

People

Men

In order of birth: *

(1542–1583), Scottish earl of French descent *

Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox (157930 July 1624), KG, 7th Seigneur d'Aubigny, lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was a Scottish nobleman and through their paternal lines was a second cousin of King James VI of Scotland and I of England. ...

(1579–1624), Scottish nobleman, younger son of the above * Esmé Stewart, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox (1649–1660), Scottish duke, grandson of 3rd Duke of Lennox *

Esmé Collings Arthur Albert Collings (1859 – 28 March 1936), known as Esmé Collings, was an English photographer, miniaturist and the first of the loose association of early film pioneers dubbed the Brighton School by French film historian Georges Sadoul ...

(1859–1936), English photographer, miniaturist and early film pioneer *

Esmé Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith Esmé William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith (15 September 1863 – 1 August 1939), was a British diplomat who was British Ambassador to the United States between 1924 and 1930. He was one of Britain's most influential diplomats of the ear ...

(1863–1939), British diplomat, Ambassador to the United States *

Esmé Cecil Wingfield-Stratford Esmé Cecil Wingfield-Stratford (20 September 1882 – 20 February 1971) was an English historian, writer, mind-trainer, outdoorsman, patriot and ruralist. Life Wingfield-Stratford was born in 1882, the elder son of Brigadier-General Cecil Win ...

(1882–1971), English historian and writer * Esme Percy (1887–1957), British actor * Esme Haywood (1900–1985), English cricketer *

Esmé Gordon Alexander Esmé Gordon (12 September 1910 – 31 May 1993) was a Scottish Modernist architect, writer, and painter who served as Secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy between 1973 and 1978. Born in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh Academy a ...

(1910–1993), Scottish architect * Esme Mends (born 1986), Ghanaian football player

Women

In order of birth: *Esmè Stuart, pen name of

Amélie Claire Leroy Amélie Claire Leroy (1851 – 12 March 1934) was a French writer, who wrote more than 60 works in English often using the pseudonym Esmé Stuart. Life Leroy was born in Paris.''1871 England Census'' She lived for a while in Winchester with the ...

(1851–1934), English writer *

Esme Church Esme Church (11 February 1893 – 31 May 1972) was a British actress and theatre director. In a long career she acted with the Old Vic Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company and on Broadway. She directed plays for the Old Vic, became head of t ...

(1893–1972), British actress and theatre director *

Esmé Wynne-Tyson Esmé Wynne-Tyson (29 June 1898 – 17 January 1972) was an English actress, writer and philosopher. As a child she acted in West End plays, and became a close friend, confidante, and collaborator of Noël Coward. She left the stage in 1920 an ...

(1898–1972), English actress and writer * Esme Roberts (1911–1995), British artist *

Esme Grant Esme Melbro Grant (née Muir; 20 September 1920 – 25 August 1987) was a Jamaican politician. She was one of the first women elected to the Parliament of Jamaica. Political career She was JLP candidate for Westmoreland Central in the 1962 Jam ...

(1920-1987), Jamaican politician *

Esme Mackinnon Esmé Mackinnon (2 December 1913 – 9 July 1999), known as Muffie, was a British Alpine skiing, alpine skier from Edinburgh, Scotland, remembered as the first female International Ski Federation, FIS FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, W ...

(1913-1999), British skier *

Esmé Hooton Esmé Gladys Hooton (1914–1992) was an English poet. Biography Hooton was born in Lewisham, London in 1914. Hooton was the author of two collections of poetry: ''City Sonnets'', published by Routledge in 1947, and ''Zoo'', published by Pe ...

(1914–1992), English poet *

Esme Tombleson Esme Irene Tombleson (née Lawson; 1 August 1917 – 30 July 2010) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. An Australian child prodigy who recited Shakespeare, she had a career in theatre and ballet. During the war, her sharp mind a ...

(1917–2010), New Zealand politician *

Esme Melville Esme Melville (born Esme Grace Mount-Melville, 23 July 1918 – 14 September 2006) was an Australian theatre, television and film actress. At the Tropfest awards for 2003 she won Best Actor – Female for her role of Granma in the short film, '' ...

(1918–2006), Australian actress *

Esme Langley Esme Ross-Langley (née George, pseudonym Ann Bruce; 26 August 1919, in Guisborough, Yorkshire – 20 August 1991, in Hertfordshire, England), was a British writer, best known as the founder of the Minorities Research Group and '' Arena Three ...

(1919–1991), British writer *Esmée Fairbairn,

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

of British charity the

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a registered charity founded in England in 1961. It is one of the larger independent grant-making foundations based in the UK, funding organisations which aim to improve the quality of life for people and communit ...

Esme Irwin Esme Rosemary Irwin (13 June 1931 – 18 August 2001) was an English cricketer who played primarily as a right-arm pace bowler. She appeared in 4 Test matches for England in 1960 and 1961, all against South Africa. She played domestic cricket ...

(1931–2001), British cricket player *

Esmé Emmanuel Esmé Emmanuel Berg (born 14 June 1947) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa. Emmanuel was the girls' singles champion at the 1965 French Championships. She won a doubles gold medal at the 1965 Maccabiah Games in Israel. Her ...

(born 1947), South African tennis player *

Esme Young Esme Young (born 19 February 1949) is an English fashion designer and television presenter. Since 2016, she has been a judge on the BBC reality series ''The Great British Sewing Bee''. Early life and education Esme Young was born at Bedford Hosp ...

(born 1949), English fashion designer *

Esme Steyn Esme Steyn (born 22 March 1953) is a South African international lawn bowler. Bowls career In 2005 she won the pairs gold medal at the Atlantic Bowls Championships. She competed in the women's fours and the women's triples events at the 201 ...

(born 1953), South African lawn bowler *

Esmé Wiegman Emma Eleonora (Esmé) Wiegman-van Meppelen Scheppink (born 24 July 1975 in Haarlem) is a former Dutch politician. As a member of the ChristianUnion (ChristenUnie) she was an MP from 1 March 2007 to 19 September 2012. She focused on matters of the ...

(born 1975), Dutch politician *

Esmé Bianco Esmé Augusta Bianco (born 25 May 1982) is a British actress and neo-burlesque performer, who is best known for her recurring roles as Ros on ''Game of Thrones'' and Jane Chatwin on '' The Magicians''. Career Bianco has posed for painters Chri ...

(born 1982), British actress, model, and performer * Esmé Kamphuis (born 1983), Dutch bobsledder * Esmé Patterson (born 1985), American musician *

Esmée Denters Esmée Denters (born 28 September 1988) is a Dutch singer and YouTuber. Denters started promoting herself as a musician online in 2006, covering songs by artists including Justin Timberlake and Natasha Bedingfield. Denters was signed by Timberlak ...

(born 1988), Dutch singer *

Esmé Creed-Miles Esmé Creed-Miles (born 5 February 2000) is an English actress. On television, she starred as the title character of the Amazon Prime series '' Hanna'' (2019–2021) and in the Paramount+ period drama '' The Doll Factory'' (2023). Her films inclu ...

(born 2000), English actress *

Esme Morgan Esme Beth Morgan (born 18 October 2000) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), centre-back for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Washington Spirit and the England wom ...

(born 2000), English footballer * Esmee Brugts (born 2003), Dutch footballer

Fictional characters

Esme & Roy ''Esme & Roy'' is an animated children's television series created by Dustin Ferrer and Amy Steinberg. The series is produced by ''Sesame Street'' producer Sesame Workshop and Canada-based animation studio Nelvana, in association with Corus Ente ...

's eponymous character *Esmé Howe-Nevinson, a painter in

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

's 1957 novel ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

.'' *Esme,

John Shelby John T. Shelby (born February 23, 1958) is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from 1981 to 1991. He began his career as a member of the Baltimore Orioles before later playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers a ...

's Gypsy wife in the TV series ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

.'' *Esme Macknade, a regular character in the long-running BBC Radio 4 First World War drama ''Home Front''. *Esme, in William Gaddis' 1955 novel ''

The Recognitions ''The Recognitions'' is the 1955 debut novel of American author William Gaddis. The novel was initially poorly received by critics. After Gaddis won a National Book Award in 1975 for his second novel, ''J R'', his first work gradually received ...

.'' *Esmé, in

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger ( ; January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel '' The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger published several short stories in '' Story'' magazine in 1940, before serving in World Wa ...

's short story "

For Esmé – with Love and Squalor For or FOR may refer to: English language *For, a preposition *For, a complementizer *For, a grammatical conjunction Science and technology * Fornax, a constellation * for loop, a programming language statement * Frame of reference, in physics * ...

". *Esmé Kipps, in

Susan Hill Dame Susan Elizabeth Hill, Lady Wells (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include '' The Woman in Black'', which has been adapted for stage and screen, '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and '' ...

's novel ''

The Woman in Black ''The Woman in Black'' is a 1983 gothic horror novel by English writer Susan Hill, about a mysterious spectre that haunts a small English town. A television film based on it, also called '' The Woman in Black'', was produced in 1989, with a s ...

.'' *Esmé Amarinth, in the novel ''

The Green Carnation ''The Green Carnation'' is a novel by Robert Hichens that was first published anonymously in 1894. A satire on contemporary champions of the Aesthetic Movement, it was withdrawn briefly after the scandal of the Oscar Wilde trial in the follo ...

.'' * Esme Cuckoo, a mutant in the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...

. * Esme Cullen, a vampire in the ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' series. *Esme Murray, in the sitcom ''

Hamish Macbeth Hamish Macbeth is the police constable of the fictional Scottish Highlands, Scottish Highland town of Lochdubh, in a series of murder mystery novels created by M. C. Beaton (Marion Chesney). Considered by many to be a useless, lazy moocher, M ...

.'' *

Esme Prince ''General Hospital'' is an American television soap opera that was first broadcast on April 1, 1963. The following is a list of characters that first appear in the show during the 2020s, in order of first appearance. All characters are introduced ...

, a character in the soap opera ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

''. *Esme, Mr. Hennessey's serpentine pet in the movie '' Foul Play''; she destroys a roll of film needed as evidence by pushing it into the fireplace. *

Esmé Squalor The children's novel series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' and its film and television adaptations features a large cast of characters created by Daniel Handler under the pen name of Lemony Snicket. The original series follows the turbulent ...

, a villainess in

Lemony Snicket Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler and a fictional character of his creation. Handler has published various children's books under the name, including ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which has sold over 60 millio ...

's book series ''

A Series of Unfortunate Events ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' is a series of thirteen Children's literature, children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of orphaned siblings List of A ...

.'' * Esme Vanderheusen, in the soap opera ''

Passions ''Passions'' is an American television soap opera that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1999, to September 7, 2007, and on DirecTV's The 101 Network from September 17, 2007, to August 7, 2008. Created by screenwriter James E. Reilly and ...

.'' * Esme Weatherwax, a witch in the ''

Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a fl ...

'' series. *Esme Watson, in the Australian TV series ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 ...

.'' *Anna Preston's birth mother in the novel '' When Marnie Was There (''renamed Emily in the Ghibli film)''.'' * Esme Song, in the Canadian teen drama '' Degrassi: Next Class''. *

Esmé Esmé (more commonly Esme) or Esmée is a feminine (sometimes masculine) given name, from the past participle of the Old French verb '' esmer'', "to esteem", thus signifying "esteemed". Another theory is that ''esmer'' is an alternative spelling ...

, a name given to a murderous

hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

of indeterminate gender in a

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...

story. * Esme, a character in CW’s ''Supergirl'' Season 6. *Esme Lennox, the eponymous heroine of

Maggie O'Farrell Maggie O'Farrell, RSL (born 27 May 1972), is a novelist from Northern Ireland. Her acclaimed first novel, ''After You'd Gone'', won the Betty Trask Award, and a later one, '' The Hand That First Held Mine'', the 2010 Costa Novel Award. She has ...

's 2006 novel ''The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.'' *Esme Nicoll, the protagonist of

The Dictionary of Lost Words ''The Dictionary of Lost Words'' is the debut novel by Australian writer Pip Williams, published in March 2020. It became a bestseller in Australia and was also a ''New York Times'' bestseller. It won several literary prizes in 2021, and has b ...

novel by Pip Williams

References

{{given name French unisex given names Unisex given names