# Who is the most famous person whose name is routinely misspelled? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2023, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710 "2023-11-26T10:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/61 "2023-11-27T03:54:56Z")
Condeleezza Rice - that name is nearly impossible to spell, unless you are doing it all the time. Of course, her importance has faded. But I was working for a news publisher when she was Secretary of State. We checked and rechecked her name all the time. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/62 "2023-11-27T04:37:33Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Condeleezza Rice You didn’t check it carefully enough this time. 😁 > **[Condoleezza Rice](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice)** > > Condoleezza Rice (/ˌkɒndəˈliːzə/ KON-də-LEE-zə; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th United States secretary of state from 2005 to 2009 and as the 19th U.S. national security advisor from 2001 to 2005. Rice was the first female African-American secretary of state and the first woman to serve as national security adv... ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/63 "2023-11-27T04:59:38Z")
I wonder if it helps to know it comes from the Italian _con dolcezza_. It just changes the c to an e. So if you think of the Italian pronunciation (approximately “kohn dohl CHET-tsah”), it might help your memory. I bring it up because I read the wiki and learned where her name came from. It’s kinda sweet. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2023, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/64 "2023-11-27T05:03:23Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s kinda sweet. Iswydt. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/65 "2023-11-27T05:27:27Z")
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/66 "2023-11-27T05:29:54Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > You didn’t check it carefully enough this time. 😁 Yup. That’s why we ALWAYS triple-checked. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2023, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/67 "2023-11-27T05:31:56Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso Yeah, I always forget that accent mark over the “i”. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/68 "2023-11-27T08:40:11Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I feel like this is a good place to link to one of Cecil Adams’ classic Straight Dope columns: > > “How are you supposed to spell Muammar Gaddafi/Khadafy/Qadhafi?” Similarly could drop a [West Wing snippet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xHXWUa6AMs) on the same topic ---
**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:** [November 27, 2023, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/69 "2023-11-27T08:47:31Z")
You’re all wrong. It’s either Will Ferrell or Colin Farrell. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/70 "2023-11-27T14:07:07Z")
A few folks have skipped over the part of the OP where they disqualify anyone whose name was not originally rendered in the Latin A-Z alphabet. Which is a sensible disqualification since there are lots of ways to transliterate from other scripts, be they ancient or modern. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/71 "2023-11-27T18:27:51Z")
Adam Corolla Carolla Dwyane Wade ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/72 "2023-11-27T18:30:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A few folks have skipped over the part of the OP where they disqualify anyone whose name was not originally rendered in the Latin A-Z alphabet. Which is a sensible disqualification since there are lots of ways to transliterate from other scripts, be they ancient or modern That’s true, but I think there’s a big difference between spelling standardization and names that have completely wrong sounds, like Montezuma and Moctezuma or Jesus and Yehushua (the J sound doesn’t even exist in Aramaic). ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/73 "2023-11-27T18:30:20Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > For the record until that post I also thought it was “Courtney”. It should be “Courtney”, but her mother didn’t know how to spell. LOL ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/74 "2023-11-27T19:22:32Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Probably King Kamayam…err whatever Kamehameha. If you know how to say it, the spelling is easy, because it’s phonetical. > [@dorvann](#): > > Not mention the confusion between Sean, Shawn, and Shaun… And Sian. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/75 "2023-11-27T19:34:58Z")
We’ll have to kick the blame up at least a generation, as Courteney’s mother’s name is … also Courteney, spelled like that. I wonder if this is a surname-as-given-name (as Courteney is a surname) or just a variant spelling. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/76 "2023-11-27T20:06:53Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Jim Carrey (not Carey) That reminds me, Chicago sports broadcast legend Harry Caray’s last name sounds the same as Jim’s. > [@BigT](#): > > I wonder if it helps to know it comes from the Italian _con dolcezza_. I didn’t know that and it’s very cute. I’ve always had a touch of a crush on her. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/77 "2023-11-27T21:48:54Z")
Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux is misspelled “Maddox” over and over and over. His brother, pitching coach Mike Maddux, gets the same thing, though he’s less famous. The actor who won an Oscar for “Leaving Las Vegas” is Nicolas Cage, often misspelled “Nicholas.” Ginnifer Goodwin actually was born Jennifer Goodwin but changed it to make it hard on us all. Seth Rogen is often misspelled “Rogan,” the more common version of that surname. Steve Carell is frequently spelled “Carrell” or “Carrel.” Apparently Billie Eilish is often misspelled “Elish.” I don’t get that one because that would clearly be pronounced a different way. Eilish is EYE-lish, but Elish would rhyme with “Relish.” ---
**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:** [November 28, 2023, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/78 "2023-11-28T03:53:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Steve Carell is frequently spelled “Carrell” or “Carrel.” His name always throws me for a loop. I have to look it up every time. Same with Corinne Bailey Rae. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/79 "2023-11-28T22:18:54Z")
Just thought of one: Suzanne Somers, her last name is often misspelled as “Summers”. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/80 "2023-11-28T23:39:27Z")
Come to think of it, I’ve seen Kirstie Alley’s name misspelled and mispronounced as “Kristie” many times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710.md?page=5)