Esmé’s Article: ‘Names’

Do you like your first name? I really hope so! It is the thing that I am most grateful to my parents for. I wish I had asked my father in which book he had discovered it.

When I started at the Red Maids’ School, there was only one other Esmé, and she was in my form. She was a boarder, and I was a day-girl I am grateful to a few young friends who have called their daughters Esmé.

My three great grandchildren are called Ophelia, Sylvia, and Rueben., and I have another due in 2023. How lucky am I!

Many of my friends and some of my workmen call me ’Es’, which I like. Do you get your name shortened? I wonder, because they do not do that in France. Many men there have doble-barrelled names. I have friends called Jean (pronounced John) -Noël, Jean-Christophe, Jean-Phillipe, Jean-Michel, and Jean-Bernard.

In my mother’s youth, many babies were given three names. My mother was Ivy Florence Bertha, and my dad was Clifford Lionel Albert. I wonder what your parents were called?

A workman in my flat today told me that his name was Joseph. I said jokingly “Is your wife called Mary? “He said” No, she is called Jo!” And that is what prompted me to write about names. Enjoy yours!

Esmé