# Most misspelled names of famous people? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 27, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725 "2010-06-27T23:16:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/1 "2010-06-27T23:16:06Z")
Which famous people, from any era or field, seem to have their name misspelled the most often? Here are the ones I see most commonly: It’s Buddha, not Buddah. Gandhi, not Ghandi Cal Ripken, not Cal Ripkin Brett Favre, not Brett Farve Ben Stein, not Stien or Stine What are some others? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/2 "2010-06-27T23:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Gandhi, not Ghandi I was appalled to see it spelled this way on a relatively recent monument in my home town. If you’re gonna chisel something in stone, you really should check the spelling first. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/3 "2010-06-27T23:30:00Z")
I’ll be the first to admit that I misspelled Barack Obama for quite a while before I voted for him. I think I spelled it Barak until he won the Dem nomination. I’m not alone…I admitted it before and another Democrat Doper said he/she did it too. Anyhoo…I can’t spell **Hussein** to save my life (just looked it up and pasted it in). ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/4 "2010-06-28T00:47:41Z")
Brendan Fraser, not Brendon Frasier or Brandon Frazier. Also often mispronounced as “_fray-zher_,” when in fact, it’s “_fray-zer_.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/5 "2010-06-28T01:21:58Z")
Aristotle. They don’t even use the right alphabet! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/6 "2010-06-28T02:04:05Z")
Nietzsche. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/7 "2010-06-28T02:12:47Z")
Gairtay Neechee Ine Rand (nod to **panache45** ) ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/8 "2010-06-28T04:36:03Z")
It’s Frederick Law _Olmsted_, not Olmstead. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/9 "2010-06-28T04:48:27Z")
Dan Aykroyd. I see it spelled “Ackroyd” all the time. He’s only been well-known for about 35 years. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/10 "2010-06-28T04:52:20Z")
Nicolas Cage. My daughter’s teacher had \*Ghandi \*written on a spelling vocab list in 5th grade. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/11 "2010-06-28T04:56:08Z")
It’s ridiculous, over the past year, how many times I’ve read “Micheal Jackson”. One of the most famous men in the world, with a normal, common name, and people still can’t get it right? How difficult is it to spell “Michael”!? ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/12 "2010-06-28T04:57:06Z")
Stevie Ray Vaughan. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/13 "2010-06-28T04:58:37Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Brett Favre, not Brett Farve This one’s tricky, 'cause it’s _pronounced_ Farve. In the 80s you often saw Ronald Reagen and Mario Coumo. ---
**Author:** ![judikium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@judikium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/judikium)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/14 "2010-06-28T05:02:16Z")
Sally Field, not Sally Fields. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/15 "2010-06-28T06:01:19Z")
Did they ever settle on Muammar/Moammar Qaddafi/Ghadafi/Khadafy? ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/16 "2010-06-28T08:33:43Z")
Arnold Shwartze… Schwarzan… The governator. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/17 "2010-06-28T08:46:08Z")
Julius Caesar. Should be Jvlivs, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/18 "2010-06-28T10:48:35Z")
J.R.R. Tolkien often gets misspelled as Tolkein. Google returns 337 hits for this site alone. And 1460 hits with the correct spelling. And for some reason Adolf Hitler frequently is referred to as Adolph Hitler in English. 463 “Adolf Hitler” Google hits on this site v. 129 “Adolph Hitler”. Is this maybe the result of a convention I’m unaware of? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/19 "2010-06-28T10:56:07Z")
Britney Spears. Not Brittany. No idea why that happens so often. **site:straightdope.com “brittany spears”** - 117 results in Google. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725/20 "2010-06-28T17:33:52Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Britney Spears. Not Brittany. No idea why that happens so often. Probably because she’s the first and practically only famous “Britney,” but far from the only famous [Brittany](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-misspelled-names-of-famous-people/544725.md?page=2)