# Famous names you can't pronounce right for the life of you **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395 "2010-01-18T04:16:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/1 "2010-01-18T04:16:48Z")
Hieronymus Bosch Zooey Deschanel (des-channel? dez-shanel? Zoo-ee? Zow-ee? Aw, screw it.) Any others? ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/2 "2010-01-18T04:28:16Z")
M. Night Shyamalan I know his last name is pronounced “Shaw-muh-lawn.” But when I see it in print I mentally pronounce it “Shuh-MAY-lee-un.” ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/3 "2010-01-18T04:41:42Z")
> [@Stauderhorse](#): > > Zooey Deschanel (des-channel? dez-shanel? Zoo-ee? Zow-ee? Aw, screw it.) Zo-ee Desha-nell. For me it’s always Dick Cheney. I thought I pronounced it right but Chris Matthews would disagree. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/4 "2010-01-18T04:48:13Z")
Zzbrigniew Zzenzzinski or whatever the hell it is. Or Amedinejad from Iran. How the hell do you pronounce that, anyway? Ah-med-E-nu-hawd? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/5 "2010-01-18T05:04:57Z")
On _Boston Legal_, Denny Crane pronounced it “Ameena-douchebag.” Given that Crane was a highly educated, immensely successful lawyer, I figured he must have known what he was talking about, so I’ve adopted that pronunciation myself. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/6 "2010-01-18T05:37:04Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Zzbrigniew Zzenzzinski or whatever the hell it is. Or Amedinejad from Iran. How the hell do you pronounce that, anyway? Ah-med-E-nu-hawd? The Iranian president, as I learned from Whoopi Goldberg on _The View_, sounds like “ahm a dinner jacket.” I giggle a bit every time I hear his name now, but that’s basically how it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/7 "2010-01-18T12:51:50Z")
Janeane Garofalo (is she famous?) Jane - aine? Jan - een? Garoh - faloh? Garaff - aylow? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/8 "2010-01-18T12:59:20Z")
Goethe. I think it’s pronounced ‘GER-ta’ but that never springs to mind when I see the name; and when I hear it, it takes me a little while to figure out what the hell they’re talking about. Not that I know shit about him in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/9 "2010-01-18T13:28:58Z")
Ryan Phillipe. Because he’s such an idiot he doesn’t know how to pronounce his own name. Half the cast of Heroes: Hayden Panettiere, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Milo Ventimiglia. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/10 "2010-01-18T13:35:28Z")
Tom Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/11 "2010-01-18T13:35:44Z")
That one actor. He’s been in…movies I guess. I don’t know. Chewbacca Elephant or something. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/12 "2010-01-18T13:58:17Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Goethe. > > I think it’s pronounced ‘GER-ta’ but that never springs to mind when I see the name; and when I hear it, it takes me a little while to figure out what the hell they’re talking about. > > Not that I know shit about him in the first place. My humanities teacher pronounced it “Gee-et-ah”. (hard G at the beginning) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/13 "2010-01-18T13:58:28Z")
Everyone named Nguyen. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/14 "2010-01-18T14:13:07Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > That one actor. He’s been in…movies I guess. I don’t know. Chewbacca Elephant or something. I assume that’s the guy I came in to mention: Chiwitel Ejiofor. I’d pay money to watch him read the phonebook but have no idea which syllables to stress in his name. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/15 "2010-01-18T15:19:20Z")
Hayden Panettiere = Hayden Pantyliner! (I didn’t make it up but have read this creative substitution on other boards) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/16 "2010-01-18T15:28:13Z")
> [@Stauderhorse](#): > > My humanities teacher pronounced it “Gee-et-ah”. (hard G at the beginning) He’s wrong. The pronunciation of “GER-ta” is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/17 "2010-01-18T16:25:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Everyone named Nguyen. I think the surname Ng is harder – e.g., [Maya Soetoro-Ng](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Soetoro-Ng) (Barack Obama’s half sister). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/18 "2010-01-18T16:27:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > He’s wrong. The pronunciation of “GER-ta” is correct. Yes, English “er”, preferably without the “r” pronounced, is about as close as you can get in English to the German o umlaut. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/19 "2010-01-18T16:39:33Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > M. Night Shyamalan > > I know his last name is pronounced “Shaw-muh-lawn.” But when I see it in print I mentally pronounce it “Shuh-MAY-lee-un.” Huh, I never knew that. Wonder why the y’s there then? [This site](http://www.loc.gov/nls/other/sayhow.html) is really useful for the pronunciation of famous people’s names. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-cant-pronounce-right-for-the-life-of-you/525395/20 "2010-01-19T00:55:48Z")
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