# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/101 "2023-12-03T06:43:54Z")
On a similar note, 40 years ago, Bananarama’s Siobhan Fahey was often called “si-oh-bahn.” I remember when my sister called a radio station to correct the DJ; she knew it was pronounced sha-vahn because I knew someone who also had that name, and explained that it was IIRC Welsh or Gaelic. Enya’s first name is actually spelled Eithne. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/102 "2023-12-03T06:46:28Z")
Neil Peart (RIP) has to be one of the better examples of that. I had some customers at the grocery store pharmacy with that surname, and on one occasion, when I pronounced his name correctly, I was asked if I was also a Rush fan. I replied, “Since I was 14!” p.s. The band’s lead singer’s Jewish name is Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, and for many years, he thought his birth name was Gary Lee Weinrib, but found out that he was supposed to be named Gary Lorne but apparently the OB nurses couldn’t understand his parents’ Yiddish accents, and wrote his middle name on the birth certificate as “Lee” instead. Somehow, Geddy Lorne doesn’t have the same rock star appeal. Also, “Lifeson” is much easier to spell and pronounce than “Zivojinovic.” ---
**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:** [December 3, 2023, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/103 "2023-12-03T06:58:12Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Macaulay Culkin has to be on this list right? he was on the new today and my first thought was “I had no idea his name was spelled that way”. I, on the other hand, had no idea he and Brenda Song were a couple and had two kids together. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/104 "2023-12-03T07:36:10Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > That reminds me, Chicago sports broadcast legend Harry Caray’s last name sounds the same as Jim’s I used to often hear his sometime boss called Charles “Kaminsky”. Of course, the errors are understandable if you know that one was Irish and the other Polish. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/105 "2023-12-03T10:16:42Z")
I knew it, I’ve just been flabbergasted by it. It just doesn’t seem like they’d travel in the same circles to have met. Plus, she’s an absolute knockout, and he…looked rough for a few years. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/106 "2023-12-03T12:32:27Z")
Macaulay was on Celebrity Jeopardy! recently, he went by “Mack” Brian ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/107 "2023-12-03T15:04:04Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Englebert Humperdinck? > > Efram Zimbalist, jr? I think that posters are now giving names that most people don’t even know, let alone misspell. Zimbalist had his peak of fame in the early 1960s and died nine years ago. Humperdinck’s peak of fame was in the early 1970s (and he’s still alive). I am actually old enough to remember the peaks of fame of those two men, but most people now aren’t. Should I need to mention either of them in something online or in print, I would just search on their names and use that to spell their first and last names. I suspect that nearly everyone who wanted to do so would look up their names. I don’t think that “routinely misspelled” applies to them. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/108 "2023-12-03T16:11:14Z")
Yeah, but couldn’t you say that about anyone named in this thread? With the ability to google anyone, misspelled names are kinda going the way of the dodo. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/109 "2023-12-03T16:34:05Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > couldn’t you say that about anyone named in this thread Some of the names early in this thread are mentioned enough in print or online that you could legitimately say that they are routinely misspelled, but I think we’ve named them all by this point. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/110 "2023-12-03T16:57:07Z")
Tell that to everybody who responds to my emails (where my name is correctly spelled in both my signature and my email address). Many people just don’t care about things like “correct spelling.” It’s the same way they can hear “Julia” and yet say “Julie.” Some people, for whatever reason, are just really quick to edit other people’s information to suit their preferences. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/111 "2023-12-03T17:15:11Z")
True, but that doesn’t make you a famous person whose name is routinely misspelled. Every once in a while someone misspells Wendell as Wendel or Wendall (or even Wagner as Wagoner). I don’t think I count as a famous person. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/112 "2023-12-03T19:29:31Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > True, but that doesn’t make you a famous person whose name is routinely misspelled. Correct. Dan Aykroyd and Courteney Cox mentioned early in the thread are prime examples. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/113 "2023-12-03T20:36:42Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Macaulay was on Celebrity Jeopardy! recently, he went by “Mack” His full name is Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin, but on Redlettermedia, he goes by Mack. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/114 "2023-12-03T21:14:11Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > His full name is Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin, but on Redlettermedia, he goes by Mack. Note that his name at birth was Macaulay Carson Culkin, he legally changed his middle names to “Macaulay Culkin” based on an internet contest which is usually an unwise move. If you are going to have a naming contest better to have a list of acceptable choices and conduct voting based on that… If you must have open suggestion, have an out where you can pick from the top 5 or something like that IMHO. Brian ---
**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:** [December 3, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/115 "2023-12-03T21:17:41Z")
At least he’s not now Macaulay McMacaulayFace Culkiny McCulkinFace. So he’s got that to be thankful for. 😁 🤪 ---
**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:** [December 4, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/116 "2023-12-04T02:42:12Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > If you are going to have a naming contest better to have a list of acceptable choices and conduct voting based on that… If you must have open suggestion, have an out where you can pick from the top 5 or something like that IMHO. In this case, though, I think he actually liked the idea. It seems to fit his type of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710/117 "2023-12-04T02:48:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin Weatherby George Dupree… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-whose-name-is-routinely-misspelled/993710.md?page=5)