Entertainment
17 Celebrities Whose Names You're Probably Saying Wrong (Or If You're Like Me, Avoiding Saying Altogether So You Don't Look Stupid)
I will start this article with a moment of silence for celebs with names so complicated that they just preemptively changed them before hitting the big time. This includes people like our adorable friend Nikolina Konstantinova, aka Nina Dobrev. It’s one thing to have to eye roll and explain your name to all your substitute teachers in high school, but it’s quite another to be so famous that you're stuck having to correct hundreds of millions of people who are constantly mispronouncing it. Looking at you, Jennifer Anastassakis (although, to be fair, her parents are the ones who changed the family name.)
The problem is, we’re all guilty of it. There are a ton of celebrities whose names we have all collectively been pronouncing wrong since they hit the scene, and I guess they’re all too polite to make a big scene out of it or we’d have realized it sooner. It’s not just celebrities with big names abundant with vowels. There are so many common, every day names that you might not suspect people would be wrecking every time they uttered them. If you’ve ever lost your chill because someone mispronounced your name, imagine what these guys and gals have to go through in the limelight every single day.
Quvenzhané Wallis
Correction pronunciation: Kwuh-VEN-jah-nay
Here, let her explain it to you herself.
Demi Moore
Correct pronunciation: Deh-MEE Moore
People often put the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble.
Lupita Nyong'o
Correct pronunciation: Loo-PEE-tah en-YON-go
Not that you were capable of saying anything at all when she came out in that 6,000 pearl dress at the Oscars last week.
Saoirse Ronan
Correction pronunciation: SEER-sha Ro-nahn
Her name may look like a roller coaster of vowels but it’s actually pretty simple when you learn it.
Rihanna
Correct pronunciation: Ree-ANN-uh (as opposed to Ree-AHN-uh)
Not that it matters, because we’re all calling her RiRi 50% of the time anyway.
Amanda Seyfried
Correction pronuncation: Uh-MAN-duh SIGH-fred
If you forget, just try to remember how much her character sighs prettily in Les Miserables.
Martin Scorsese
Correct pronunciation: Mar-ten Skor-SEH-zee
Just in case you missed it, he explained to the world on an episode of Entourage.
Mia Wasikowska
Correct pronunciation: Mee-yuh Vash-ih-kov-ska
The Kids Are All Right, but this one probably wouldn’t mind you correcting yourself before you hack this awesome last name again.
Charlize Theron
Correct pronunciation: Char-leez THAIR-en
It turns out Charlize isn’t “on” anything, even though the letter “o” in her last name is awfully deceptive.
Chloë Sevigny
Correct pronunciation: KLOH-ee SEV-uh-nee
And here she is explaining her woes to none other than Courtney Love (who has never had this problem).
Gotye
Correct pronunciation: Go-tee-YAY
That old way you were pronouncing it was just somebody that you used to know.
Rachel Weiss
Correct pronunciation: Rachel VICE
You would be “wise” to pronounce it the correct way.
Mariska Hargitay
Correct pronunciation: Marish-kah Hargitay.
Mila Kunis
Correct pronunciation: Mee-luh Koo-niss
It’s tempting to say Mila the way we say Miley, but that doesn’t make it any less wrong.
Ewan McGregor
Correct pronunciation: YOO-wan McGregor
There are too many videos devoted to explaining this to count, but here’s one in case you wanted it.
Joaquin Phoenix
Correct pronunciation: WAH-keen Fee-nicks
Welcome to the English language, where J’s can sometimes be W’s and this man is allowed to rap.
Julianne Hough
Correct pronunciation: Joo-lee-ann HUFF
“Hough” is pronounced like “tough” or “rough,” not like “how” or “though”.
