15 Famous Names We Just Realized We’ve Been Mispronouncing – And How To Say Them
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A study by Race Equality Matters reported that 73 percent of people state that their names had been mispronounced at least once. Few famous names are safe from mispronunciation. Plenty of us are oblivious to the real correct pronunciation of names such as Vincent van Gogh, Rihanna, and Chrissy Teigen.
These slip-ups may be uncomfortable, but they’re a chance for you to develop your social skills. Your game will improve by striking the proper pronunciation of names, thus demonstrating respect and cultural sensitivity. Here are some 15 renowned names that people tend to mispronounce, as well as an honest guide about how they’re pronounced.
Chrissy Teigen
American model and actress Chrissy Teigen is best known for her work on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues and her TV appearances on Lip Sync Battle and The Celebrity Apprentice. She grew up in Huntington Beach, California. Her classmates, not just fans, would also get her full name wrong.
At one point, she took to Twitter to stop the misunderstanding: ‘It’s Tie-gen not Tee-gen.’ Teigen’s readiness to embrace both pronunciations reveals her as tongue-in-cheek and informal, qualities that have broadened her global appeal with her online fans.
Saoirse Ronan
The Irish actress Saoirse Ronan is often asked to pronounce her name for people who get it wrong. They say it Sour-see when it’s really Sur-sha. As Ronan quipped in a USA Today interview: ‘It’s Saoirse, like inertia.’
Her screen presence is matched only by her personality, a girlish curiosity about her name that seems to extend to the rest of the world and sparks her, inviting curiosity in return.
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh is arguably one of the most famous Dutch painters ever. He is known to art lovers across the globe for his colorful works. In his short career, which lasted just over a decade, Van Gogh created more than 2,000 artworks, of which around 860 were oil paintings.
He offers perhaps the oddest example of the peculiarity of names. It is, in fact, pronounced ‘Van Goff’ in the UK, and many Americans go for ‘Van Go’. The National Gallery of Art confirms: ‘The Dutch pronunciation is closer to “khokh”‘.
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron, the stunning South African actress and Academy Award winner, is used to having her last name mispronounced. Most people say ‘cha-LEEZ thuh-RAWN,’ but Charlize said on Chelsea Lately that it’s really ‘sha-LEEZ thron.’
A survey by Nameberry, one of the world’s most authoritative name sites, revealed that name uncertainty is now an epidemic. Celebrity names are among the top names that people can’t pronounce, and Theron’s was among them.
Prince Louis of Wales
Prince Louis of Wales is the youngest son of Prince William and Princess Catherine of Wales. Prince Louis’s name is always causing confusion amongst royal fans over how to pronounce it.
(‘Lew-iss,’ say most people, but the palace emphasizes that it’s ‘Loo-ee,’ as in ‘Louis Vuitton.’)
Zendaya
People’s instinctive mispronunciation of Zendaya’s name – Zen-dye-ah, when it’s really Zen-day-ah – created an opening for Paris Hilton to make some embarrassing name social-media TMZ fodder about the 20-year-old actress being a ‘ghetto starlet.’ Zendaya had the class and good manners to correct her publicly.
Zendaya catapulted to fame as a wardrobe-malfunction-prone actor on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up, which has since won her a stack of trophies, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Euphoria.
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Siffrey – that’s how her name sounds – has been a very good actress, and her films have brought more than $3 billion to the global box office.
For years, she’s corrected interviewers, stating it’s ‘Sigh-frid.’ Amanda joked about embracing the confusion surrounding the name: ‘It’s like a handshake at this point.’
Lupita Nyong’o
The Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, who played Patsey in 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Nakia in Black Panther (2018), hears the pronunciation of her name, which can only be called clownish. Many say Loo-pee-ta or N-yong-o. Her accurate pronunciation: Loo-pee-tah Nee-yong-oh.
Speaking of herself, Lupita has said, ‘We should not let go of cultural names. Names are identifying marks; they are heritage. These things are a part of why your name is as it is.’ Her name is so beautiful that it should be pronounced correctly.
Dr. Seuss
Dr Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) has sold more than 600 million books to date, written in a style that is equal parts goofy and sublime. Everyone knows Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham, but very few people know how Dr Seuss says his name.
Theodor ‘Ted’ Seuss Geisel is popularly pronounced ‘Soose.’ But if his friend and artist-partner Alexander Liang is to be believed, it should be ‘Soice,’ and rhyme with ‘voice.’
Ralph Fiennes
British names are very deceptive because the same individual might be named something one way in Britain and something else in the US. Ralph Fiennes is an English actor who starred in Schindler’s List (1993) and The English Patient (1996). This Oscar-nominated actor is heard explaining to fans that his name is pronounced ‘fines,’ not ‘feens.’
Many people say ‘Ralf Fee-niss,’ but it’s ‘Rafe Fines.’ He’s made movies with box-office receipts of more than $9 billion, which makes him a power in Hollywood.
Timothée Chalamet
The Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet is perhaps the best of our age for heartfelt acting. His name is pronounced, for English speakers, something like ‘Tim-o-thee Sha-la-met,’ when it’s ‘Timo-tay Shala-may.’
The actor has an inbuilt disarming note, an evident love of simple things when he says: ‘Honestly, this is just Tim.’
Rihanna
Global icons like Rihanna also encounter name pronunciation challenges. For the most part, the world goes with ‘Ree-ah-na,’ but the singer herself told SHOWstudio’s ‘In Fashion’ series in 2012 that it’s actually ‘Ree-ann-ah.’
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says that she has sold more than 250 million records worldwide, and the first 40 days sales of her makeup brand, Fenty Beauty, are reported to have totaled $100 million.
Gal Gadot
Gu-dough? No. Gah-dote. The t is not silent. Gal Gadot is an Israeli actress and model who gained international fame for playing Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe.
Forbes reports that she was one of the top 10 best-paid actresses in 2020, earning $31.5 million in a single year. Gal invariably succeeds as she confronts whatever comes her way.
Camila Cabello
Camila Cabello is a world-renowned singer. Her tours with the girl group Fifth Harmony and later as a solo artist made the world hear her voice and experience her songs and charismatic stage presence. Her staggering single, ‘Havana,’ is fast approaching 1.4 billion streams on Spotify.
Her last name is one she often hears mispronounced by fans who say, ‘Ca-meela Ca-bay-o’ when it should be ‘Cam-uh-luh Cah-bell-oh .’And she’s used to telling fans when she hears them make the error.
Ariana Grande
It is not pronounced ‘Grahn-day’ but ‘Grawn-day,’ as the pop queen often corrects her audiences.
Her irresistible music and persona have carried her to the ranks of rock’s elite, securing her a place in Time’s 100 Most Influential People.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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