Who is the most famous person whose name is routinely misspelled?

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.

You didn’t check it carefully enough this time. :grin:

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.

Iswydt.

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso

Yup. That’s why we ALWAYS triple-checked.

Yeah, I always forget that accent mark over the “i”.

Similarly could drop a West Wing snippet on the same topic

You’re all wrong. It’s either Will Ferrell or Colin Farrell.

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.

Adam Corolla Carolla

Dwyane Wade

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).

It should be “Courtney”, but her mother didn’t know how to spell. LOL

Kamehameha. If you know how to say it, the spelling is easy, because it’s phonetical.

And Sian.

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.

That reminds me, Chicago sports broadcast legend Harry Caray’s last name sounds the same as Jim’s.

I didn’t know that and it’s very cute. I’ve always had a touch of a crush on her.

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.”

His name always throws me for a loop. I have to look it up every time. Same with Corinne Bailey Rae.

Just thought of one: Suzanne Somers, her last name is often misspelled as “Summers”.

Come to think of it, I’ve seen Kirstie Alley’s name misspelled and mispronounced as “Kristie” many times.