# Famous names you mispronounced for the longest time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973 "2016-03-05T02:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/21 "2016-03-05T19:56:28Z")
It’s “Yahn” Wenner. Not nearly as famous, but there is a person who’s name I have no idea how to pronounce. Remember the former Aussie band **Jet**? They had that song **Are You Gonna Be My Girl** the first big song featured in the neon **Apple iPod** ads. The singer’s name is **Nic Cester** (his brother is the drummer, too). So: Chester? Kester? Sester? No clue. They were around for a bit, and a large number of songs off their first album got play and also use in commercials. But I couldn’t find anyone saying their name! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/22 "2016-03-05T20:37:22Z")
As a child I thought the hemlock-drinking Greek philosopher was SO-crates. I mean, that’s what it _looked_ like, and I never heard anyone saying the name. I haven’t made that mistake since about the age of 12. However, I’m _still_ probably pronouncing Steve Buscemi’s name wrong. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/23 "2016-03-05T20:41:17Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > It’s “Yahn” Wenner. > > Not nearly as famous, but there is a person who’s name I have no idea how to pronounce. Remember the former Aussie band **Jet**? They had that song **Are You Gonna Be My Girl** the first big song featured in the neon **Apple iPod** ads. > > The singer’s name is **Nic Cester** (his brother is the drummer, too). So: Chester? Kester? Sester? No clue. They were around for a bit, and a large number of songs off their first album got play and also use in commercials. But I couldn’t find anyone saying their name! :mad: It’s not definitive, but the newsreader says “Sester” [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFkp0RuM8Gk), which is how I would pronounce it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/24 "2016-03-05T21:12:38Z")
JK Rowling. I always said row to rhyme with how. Turns out it’s Rowling like bowling. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/25 "2016-03-05T21:13:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s not definitive, but the newsreader says “Sester” [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFkp0RuM8Gk), which is how I would pronounce it, too. Bless you!! ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/26 "2016-03-05T22:25:21Z")
Rachel Weisz’s last name is pronounced “vice”. Charlize Theron pronounce her last name “Therr-in”. (“therr” rhymes with “fair”) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/27 "2016-03-05T22:34:27Z")
I’m glad that Downton Abbey doesn’t come up much in my spoken conversations as I was calling it Downtown. When Scarlett Johansson first became known, I recall and interview or something where she was a bit coy about whether it should be a “j” or a “y” sound (/dʒ/ vs. /j/ in IPA). The former is how it is pronounced 99% of the time now. > [@Shoeless](#): > > For years I pronounced Dick Vitale’s name with an E on the end, because I knew a guy in high school with that last name who pronounced it that way. I’ve been playing too much Fallout, as all I can think of is a very unfortunate aimed shot. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Saoirse Ronan, from \*Brooklyn \*and _The Grand Budapest Hotel_. I always pronounced her name, “the chick who was in _The Lovely Bones_,” because I never had a clue how it’s actually pronounced. > > Then I listened to her on the Nerdist podcast and apparently it’s pronounced like, “SER-sha.” It means “freedom.” s as in s. ao is a bit irregular, but has the “ee” sound. Her preferred pronunciation is slightly different. The i is a continuation of the before (technically I think it is there to provide “symmetry” and affects the consonant near it, but in this case it’s not too confusing). s is sh before i and e. I get English speakers commenting on this all the time, it’s not that hard - do you say San Fransisso or San Frankisko? In Italian, is it Fransesso instead of Franchesco? No, it’s hard before a, o, u and soft before i, e, just like in Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/28 "2016-03-05T23:00:09Z")
I never had a problem saying Robert Gwillame’s name. Anyone mentioned the incredibly annoying Jo Ann Pflug yet? Whoa that one bothered me. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/29 "2016-03-05T23:15:19Z")
Ray and Dave Davies. For years I pronounced it Dave-eez. Then I heard someone on NPR ask Ray how his last name was pronounced to which he answered that its Davis or more properly Daviz. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/30 "2016-03-05T23:21:23Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Saoirse Ronan, from \*Brooklyn \*and _The Grand Budapest Hotel_. I always pronounced her name, “the chick who was in _The Lovely Bones_,” because I never had a clue how it’s actually pronounced. > > Then I listened to her on the Nerdist podcast and apparently it’s pronounced like, “SER-sha.” > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Tadhg is another Irish name few Americans know how to pronounce. It’s pronounced Taɪg - like tiger without the er. There’s a nice YouTube video in which Domhnall Gleeson explains that his name is pronounced ‘dough-nəl’, that is “it rhymes with _tonal_”. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/31 "2016-03-05T23:35:44Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > I never had a problem saying Robert Gwillame’s name. > > Anyone mentioned the incredibly annoying Jo Ann Pflug yet? Whoa that one bothered me. But Pflug is an easy one… (I always figured it was floog) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/32 "2016-03-05T23:42:45Z")
Simon Bolivar. I believe it’s See-MOAN Bo-LEE-var. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/33 "2016-03-05T23:59:53Z")
Keats. Pronounced _Kates?_ or did I make that up? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/34 "2016-03-06T00:04:27Z")
> [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](#): > > That’s _Hedley_. [Rimshot] Same with me. For the longest time, I don’t know why, I thought her name was pronounced “Hedley”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/35 "2016-03-06T00:06:14Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > Keats. Pronounced _Kates?_ or did I make that up? Are you thinking of Yeats? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/36 "2016-03-06T00:15:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Are you thinking of Yeats? Heh. I thought it was pronounced “Yeets” until reading Stephen King’s The Stand, where it’s noted one of the characters makes that mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/37 "2016-03-06T00:18:12Z")
BTW, I always thought Joss Whedon’s first name was pronounced “Yoss” but I’ve heard he actually pronounces it as it’s spelled. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/38 "2016-03-06T00:45:13Z")
arnold schwarzenegger, often the end of his last name is pronounced like the N word. Made sense just looking at the spelling and schwarz means black in German. Many people pronounced it wrong. I didn’t realize my mistake until after the Internet started. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/39 "2016-03-06T01:51:49Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Ryan Phillippe also does not pronounce it in a French way, he includes the trailing “e” as an additional syllable. I refuse to comply. Huh. This is the first time I’m realizing that these are not two people – one, Ryan Philippe whom I have read about, and Ryan Philip-pay whom I have heard about. For a long time, I pronounced the singer Aaliyah’s name like Ah-LIE-ah. Like the same sound in the male name Elijah. By the time I learned it was Ah-LEE-ah, it was too much of a habit to overcome. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973/40 "2016-03-06T02:05:14Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Maybe this doesn’t count against me so much, because _lots_ of people make this mistake, but the old horror star Bela Lugosi. Or, as you sometimes see it written this days, Béla Lugosi. > > His first name is pronounced Bayla, not Bella. Just like Mr. Fleck and Mr. Bartok. Really, it’s neither. The vowel in Bella is [ɛ] In Bayla it is the diphthong [eɪ] Béla has the pure [e] vowel, which is a pretty common vowel in languages around the world, but it does not appear in most forms of standard English. Both Bella and Bayla are about equally wrong, so you should feel free to pick either one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-names-you-mispronounced-for-the-longest-time/747973.md?page=3)