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.

by Emma Lord

Quvenzhané Wallis

Correction pronunciation: Kwuh-VEN-jah-nay

Here, let her explain it to you herself.

BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

Demi Moore

Correct pronunciation: Deh-MEE Moore

People often put the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble.

KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images

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.

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

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.

DAVID GANNON/AFP/Getty Images

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.

GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

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.

AFP/AFP/Getty Images

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.

THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images

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.

ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

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.

STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

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).

ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Gotye

Correct pronunciation: Go-tee-YAY

That old way you were pronouncing it was just somebody that you used to know.

ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Rachel Weiss

Correct pronunciation: Rachel VICE

You would be “wise” to pronounce it the correct way.

FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

Mariska Hargitay

Correct pronunciation: Marish-kah Hargitay.

JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images

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.

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

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.

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

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.

TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

Julianne Hough

Correct pronunciation: Joo-lee-ann HUFF

“Hough” is pronounced like “tough” or “rough,” not like “how” or “though”.

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
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