Ismay / Ismae

Meaning: (Ice or Iron Maiden, Feminine form of Esme: An Old French variant of the Latin aestimatus meaning Esteemed or amatus meaning loved. This very rare and interesting name is of early medieval English origin, from a female personal name found recorded in England from the 13th Century on, spelt variously Ysemay, Isemay, Ysmay and Isamaya. The given name is thought to derive from an Old German compound name, 'Ismagi(n)', translating as 'iron-strength', and also forming the origin of another female personal name, Ismena or Ismenia. 'Ismay' is the only surname to derive from the given name Ismay, although Ismenia has been the origin for many variant surnames, such as Emeney, Emmence, Emans and Immink. The marriage of one Alyce Esmay and Henry Hamon was recorded on October 29th 1568 at St. Giles, Cripplegate, in London, and John Ismay married Elizabeth Martin at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on October 14th 1656. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph Isemay or Hyssmaye, which was dated circa 1200, Charters of Sheffield, Yorkshire, during the reign of King John, known as 'Lackland', 1199-1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling. Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Ismay#ixzz1rIQeSFIh)

Origin: (Old German, Old French, Latin)

Pronunciation: (IHSMEY, iss-may, Go to this site and run your cursor over the name Ismay to hear how it is said: http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=ismay&submit=Submit)

Gender: Female

The other day I was checking emails and I get books of the month emails from Amazon.com and I saw a book on there which I looked up. I didn't care for the plot but I loved the name of the heroine which was Ismae. Upon looking it up I saw the original spelling Ismay and so I decided to add both Ismae and Ismay. The meaning is great and the name is unique. Ismay / Ismae which is a feminine form of Esme I think is more rare and unused compared to Esme which has become super popular after the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Myers. Plus I never really cared for the name Esme, I like Esmeralda *This name is on my list of posts* which is the original lengthened version of Esme before Esme became a stand alone name.