Some stars have names that are recognizable all over the globe, so we assume we know how to say them correctly … but we’re often wrong. It turns out, fans have been pronouncing many famous names incorrectly over the years, so much so that the celebrities themselves are stepping up to set us straight.
It happened just last week, when Raven-Symoné took to TikTok to reveal that people have been mispronouncing her name wrong. Since her days as a childhood star on Disney, the actress’ name has been said “Raven Sim-moan,” but her video clarifies it’s actually “See-mon-ye Like Yay.”
These are some of the other celeb names we’ve been saying wrong all this time:
- Adele - In a Q&A with fans, the singer let us know we’ve been mispronouncing her name. It’s “Uh-dale,” not “Ah-dell,” she explained after complimenting a fan who nailed it, noting, “She said my name perfectly.”
- Lindsay Lohan - The actress also low-key corrected fans about her name when she made her debut on TikTok, highlighting that we’ve been stressing the wrong syllable of her last name. She pronounces it “Lo-hen,” instead of “LO-han”
- Chrissy Teigen - Fans were shocked when the model and cookbook author tweeted a video about the real way to say her last name. Rather than “tee-gen,” like we thought, it’s actually “tie-gen.” “I’m tired of living this lie,” she says in the clip. “It’s ‘tie-gen.’”
- Zendaya - During an interview, the star let us know it’s “zen-day-ah,” instead of “zen-die-yah.”
- Rihanna - While talking to “Showbiz Tonight,” the singer set the record straight, explaining that while most people had been saying it “ree-ah-nah,” it’s actually “ree-ann-ah.”
- Ariana Grande - This star threw us when she pronounced her own last name as "grand-ee," not "grand-ay" during an interview.
- Taylor Lautner - We had no idea we were saying his name wrong until the actor pronounced it “Lowt-ner,” instead of “Lot-ner” in a TikTok for “E! News”
- Amanda Seyfried - Think it’s “say-fried?” Nope, it’s “sigh-fred,” according to the actress herself.
- Jake Gyllenhaal - This Swedish last name is a little tricky, but most folks say it “jill-en-hal.” However, on “Conan,” the star shared that it’s actually ‘yeel-en-hall,” joking that the only places it’s pronounced correctly are Sweden and Ikea.
Source: People