Yahoo Lifestyle "Those Are Not Even Remotely Close To The Real Pronunciation:" 25 Celebs Whose Names You've Definitely Said Wrong
While Chappell might look like it's pronounced "Sha-pell," it's actually "Chap-uhl," like the church. Her last name is pronounced "Rone." The stage name was inspired by her late grandfather, Dennis K. Chappell, and his favorite song, "The Strawberry Roan."
You can hear her pronounce her stage name at the beginning of her "Naked In Manhattan" music video:
In an episode of "New Heights," Travis, his brother, Jason, and their father, Ed, revealed that their last name — commonly pronounced Kel-see — is actually pronounced as a single syllable: Kels. Jason, Travis, and their mom have always pronounced it "Kel-see" and only recently learned it was ~technically~ incorrect and had caught on at their father's work.
You can hear the correct pronunciation — and the backstory — here:
3.Hozier
Hozier is pronounced like cozier, but with an H instead of a C, making it "Ho-zee-ur."
Here's Hozier pronouncing his name:
The Furiosa star pronounces her first name "Anne-ya," not "Aun-ya." She revealed that she struggles to correct people on the proper pronunciation, once having filmed an entire movie before telling the director they'd been saying her name wrong the whole time.
You can hear her pronounce it correctly in this TikTok:
The Irish actor revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that people often pronounce his last name like the Mezcal (the drink), but it's actually pronounced "Mes-cuhl."
You can hear him say the proper pronunciation here:
6.Keleigh Teller
The name of Keleigh Teller — aka Miles Teller's wife and one of Taylor Swift's besties — is a lot less complicated to pronounce than people think. Keleigh is pronounced like "Kelly." Swifties discovered this when Keleigh shared a video of Taylor thanking her by name for a ring she'd gifted her, and were surprised by how simple her name actually was to say.
You can watch the video of Taylor pronouncing it here:
📹| @taylorswift13 reacting to the ring gifted to her by @keleighteller pic.twitter.com/EfMeaqzmE5
— Taylor Swift Updates 🩶 (@swifferupdates) December 21, 2023
7.Adele
Adele is not, in fact, said "Uh-del." It's actually "Huh-dale," she revealed during her "Happy Hour with Adele."
Here's how she says it:
Lindsay's last name is commonly pronounced "Low-han," but it's actually "Low-en." The actor made a video on TikTok announcing that she'd joined the app in 2022 and pronounced it the correct way, which undeniably threw quite a few commenters.
You can watch the TikTok here:
9.Tove Lo
The Swedish singer's name is often pronounced "Tove-low," but the correct pronunciation is actually "Too-veh-loo." She told SPIN that Tove is her middle name, but in Sweden, it's very common to go by your middle name, as your first is related to a family member.
Here's how she says it:
10.Ariana Grande
Ariana's last name, usually pronounced "Gran-day," is actually pronounced "Gran-dee." In an Apple Music interview, she told Ebro Darden that her grandfather pronounced it "Gran-dee" to "Americanize" their last name and that she grew up pronouncing it that way. She revealed that using his pronunciation makes her think of him, and she wishes she used it more. It was her brother Frankie's idea to change the pronunciation to "Gran-day."
You can hear her talk about it — and say the proper pronunciation — here:
11.Taylor Lautner
Taylor's last name, which is often pronounced "Lot-ner," is actually "Lout-ner." On the Unplanned Podcast, Taylor shared the correct pronunciation and revealed that, for decades, he'd simply never corrected anyone.
You can hear him say his last name here:
12.Rihanna
Rihanna is not, in fact, pronounced "Re-ahh-nuh." It's actually "Re-anne-uh," per the Fenty Beauty founder herself.
You can hear her say it for yourself below:
First look at @Rihanna's Fenty collection at her pop-up in Paris: https://t.co/KU0Uqg8Vlt pic.twitter.com/dseHhqadQu
— British Vogue (@BritishVogue) May 23, 2019
13.Jake Gyllenhaal
Gyllenhaal — a Swedish last name — is correctly pronounced "Yee-len-hyaal," NOT "Gill-en-hall."
You can watch Jake and Conan O'Brien joke about it here:
14.Charlize Theron
While you've probably heard Charlize's last name pronounced "Theh-ren" or "Theh-ron," she told interviewer Gethin Jones, “The truth of the matter is those are not even remotely close to the real pronunciation.” Theron, which is French in origin, is actually pronounced "Tron." It's one syllable, and the r is rolled.
You can hear Charlize pronounce it here:
15.Avan Jogia
The actor's full name is pronounced "Ahh-ven Joe-gya." In a BuzzFeed thirst tweets video, he revealed that he actually made and shared a video of him pronouncing his name repeatedly because people so often say it wrong.
You can hear the proper pronunciation again...and again...and again here:
16.Steve Buscemi
On Running Late with Scott Rogowsky, Steve said, "I don't correct people if they say [Bu-shem-ee], because it's not wrong." Growing up, though, his family pronounced it "Byew-sehm-ee," but Steve himself pronounces it "Boo-sem-ee." Still, he says none of those three pronunciations are the actual, proper Sicilian pronunciation, which is "Boo-shay-me."
You can hear him talk about the pronunciation here:
17.Zendaya
When it comes to pronouncing her name, the Challengers star has said, "People think it's more exotic than it really is." While you may have heard people refer to her as "Zen-die-ah," the proper pronunciation of her name is "Zen-day-ah," like papaya.
Listen to Zendaya set the record straight in this Snapchat video:
In case you were wondering how to pronounce @Zendaya, she's here to tell you! See more on our Snapchat at AllureMag. pic.twitter.com/2cLbjSBG23
— Allure (@Allure_magazine) February 23, 2016
18.Alicia Silverstone
Alicia is one of those names that can 100% be pronounced differently depending on the person. As for Alicia Silverstone, she does not go by "Ah-lee-shah" but rather "Ah-lee-see-ah." The actor took to TikTok as part of a trend to set the record straight.
You can watch her TikTok here:
19.Mariska Hargitay
Often incorrectly pronounced the way it's spelled (aka "Mar-isk-aa"), the SVU star's name is properly pronounced "Mar-ish-ka." Her full name is said "Mar-ish-ka Har-gih-tay."
You can hear her pronounce it here:
Glamour
20.Florence Pugh
Florence took to Twitter to share that her last name, Pugh, is not, in fact said like the dog breed, pug. Replying to a tweet, she clarified that it's said "like if you were pretending to have a shoot out and you make all the noises yourself...Pew PEW pew pew."
You can hear her introduce herself below:
21.Ke Huy Quan
The proper pronunciation of the Everything Everywhere All At Once actor's name is "Key Hoo-ee Kwon." He revealed that he prefers to go by Ke, which is pronounced "Key," just like the thing you'd use to open a door.
You can hear Ke discuss the pronunciation of his name here:
22.Ralph Fiennes
The English actor and producer's name may appear like it's said "Ralf Fee-en-es," but it's actually said, "Rayf Fines."
You can hear Jimmy Fallon pronounce his name here:
23.Raven-Symoné
Since That's So Raven premiered in 2003, you've likely heard Symoné pronounced "Sim-own." Last year, Raven took to TikTok to set the record straight — and remind people that Symoné does, in fact, have an accent over the "e." Rather than being two syllables, Symoné is actually three, said "See-mon-ye." She revealed that from a young age she was told to tell people her name was said "Sim-own," and she doesn't often correct people.
You can see the TikTok and hear the proper pronunciation here:
24.Demi Moore
Demi is not, in fact, pronounced "De-mee," like (Demi Lovato), but is actually pronounced "Deh-mi."
You can hear Jimmy Fallon correctly pronounce her first name here:
25.And finally, Saoirse Ronan
People say Saoirse's name wrong so often, she did a whole song on SNL explaining how to say it right. Her name, which is Irish in origin and means freedom, is pronounced "Sur-sha."
You can watch her SNL monologue about it here:
