Celebrity Names You’ve Been Mispronouncing Revealed!

They are used to their names being plastered across billboards and announced on red carpets, talk shows and at awards ceremonies. 

However it doesn't mean they are always pronounced right. 

For some actors and actresses their names have been mispronounced for years, despite the stars clarifying themselves how they should be referred to. 

From to and , several actresses have shocked fans with the true pronunciation of their names. 

While the tricky Irish spellings of , and also frequently trip people up. 

So how many of these names have you been saying wrong? 

Amanda Seyfried (Amanda Sigh-Fred) 

Graham Norton shocked fans when he recently introduced The Housemaid star as Amanda Si-Fred on his show last month. 

The Irish host managed to get the correct pronunciation, but in the past she's had all sorts. 

Asked to recall the worst pronunciations she's ever heard by Hollywood Stream in 2013, Amanda replied: 'probably say-fry-ed, or sig-freed'.

However even Amanda and her sister cannot agree on the same way to say it. 

The star added: 'My sister says it different than I do, though, which is weird.

'I’m like, "It’s si-fred", and she’s like, "si-freed". I was like, "No one says si-freed, it’s si-fred".' 

In 2023, Amanda confirmed how to say it as she introduced herself on a TikTok home tour with Architectural Digest. 

Demi Moore (Duh-mee Moore)

The mispronunciation of Demi Moore's name goes all the way back to 1988 when she had to correct Harry Martin in an interview. 

As he called her 'Deh-me' she quickly interjected as she corrected him: 'It's Duh-mee'. 

Asked where her name came from she explained: 'My parents found this name and we’re quite fond of it. I think they pulled it out of a magazine.'

During an appearance on Jimmy Fallon in 2025, the actress revealed that she’d decided to change the pronunciation of her name to sound like 'Duh-me' instead of 'Deh-me' because it sounded better with her surname Moore. 

Lindsay Lohan (Lindsay Lo-Wen)

For her TikTok debut in 2022, Lindsay Lohan left fans stunned when she highlighted the way her last name is pronounced.

'Hey everyone. It's Lindsay Lohan, and guess what? Now I'm on TikTok,' she said in the five-second video.

Lindsay unwittingly corrected fans by saying her last name is pronounced 'Lo-wen' instead of 'Lo-han.'

The Parent Trap star's simple video caused a flurry of comments as one fan wrote: 'Wait. Lindsay, 'LOWEN'?!?! I've been saying it wrong my whole life?!?''

Barry Keoghan (Barry Key-O-Gan) 

Barry Keoghan was launched into the spotlight after the success of Saltburn back in 2023. 

However the Irish spelling of his name has caused quite the confusion, even tripping up his natives. 

Clarifying how his name is pronounced in an interview with Variety, Barry confirmed it is Key-o-gan. 

'Some people get it wrong, I mean even Irish people get it wrong, because Keogh - is Kyo so if you add an 'an' it is Kyoan but we pronounce the G so its Key-o-gan.' 

Saoirse Ronan (Ser-sha Ronan)

Her name is as hard to spell as it is to pronounce and it seems Saoirse Ronan can't appear on a chat show without conversation turning to her name. 

On The Lata Late Show With James Corden he asked the Irish actress, 'What's the worst butchering of it you have ever heard?' 

'I mean everything except for Ser-sha,' the star replied. 

'I've not had Ser-sha once. Errr Sau-cy, Ser-rise, Scersha. The worst one I had though and it is so amazing because it is actually a name. 

'I was walking into the airport and I had someone picking me up with a name card... and all of a sudden I see Shelley Ronan, and I was like "Well I guess that's me".' 

Nicola Coughlan (Nicola Cock-Lan)

While it may be spelt 'cough', Nicola's surname is actually pronounced Cock-Lan. 

Many compilations online show the Irish actress introducing herself correctly, despite the confusing spelling.  

Margot Robbie (Ma-Go Robbie) 

During an interview to promote her film, Babylon, Margot Robbie revealed the unknown difference in how her name is pronounced in her homeland.

The Queensland-born beauty said she loves returning to Australia because she feels 'proud' how her fellow Aussies correctly pronounce her name, compared to  Americans.

She explained: ' You know, you have the premiere and people scream out your name. I just love hearing my name with an Aussie accent too because in America everyone hits the R. 

'They got 'Marr-go' not 'Ma-go'.'

Timothée Chalamet (Timo-Tay Shala-May)

Timothée Chalamet also has trouble with people pronouncing his name, but in this case the American-French actor doesn't mind. 

Appearing on Graham Norton for the first time the host asked: 'So it is Timothee but is it actually Timo-Tay?' 

The actor joked: 'It is supposed to be but you can say Doug, Alec it's whatever you'd like.'

He later said in another interview: 'It is supposed to be Timo-tay but that always seemed to much of an obnoxious requirement to put on people so it is Timothee, Tim, Timmy'. 

Kirsten Dunst (Keer-sten Dunst)

Last August Kirsten revealed 'everyone' had been mispronouncing her name throughout her career as she revealed how to properly say it.

The actress lamented people getting the pronunciation wrong and claimed that especially people in the UK fall short of getting it right.  

She insisted while she doesn't 'blame people', she has had to answer to everything including 'criss-ten', 'ker-stin' and 'keer-sten' over the years.

Despite her apparent annoyance over the issue, she insisted it's 'fine' and said 'who cares' about whether it is being pronounced correctly or not.  

In a video from Town and Country magazine, she said: 'I mean, everyone messes up my name, so I give up.

'I don't care... I don't blame people. Like in England, they don't really say my name right.

'The last set, everyone was saying my name wrong. There was like Swedish people and people from . You just give up.'

Kirsten confirmed the proper way to say her name is 'Keer-sten'.

She joked: 'But again, who cares? It's fine.'

Paul Mescal (Paul Mess-kle)

In 2023 Irish star Paul, 29, sent shockwaves through his fans as he revealed people had been pronouncing his name wrong.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter he said: 'I feel like at some point I should look into launching a mezcal tequila line. 

'People get confused with how to pronounce my name because of the drink mezcal.' 

He continued: 'Everybody does it. I pronounce it 'Mess-kle', so I wonder, if I launched a tequila line, I would call it Mescal's Mezcal. I'm on the fence.' 

Paul rose to fame on the BBC series Normal People which aired during lockdown.

He has gone on to secure huge roles including in Gladiators II.

The handsome actor is also dating pop star Gracie Abrams, 25.  

Justin Theroux (Justin Ther-row)  

Hollywood actor Justin Theroux and his British cousin Louis Theroux clashed over how to pronounce their surname during a light-hearted interview in 2021.

During the conversation, the pair admitted they disagree over the pronunciation of their surname. 

Introducing his cousin with his full name, Louis said: 'I hesitate to give our common name the mispronunciation you insist on.' 

'You go by 'ther-oo' and I go by 'ther-oh',' Justin explained,' prompting Louis to respond: 'Or to put it another way, I use the correct pronunciation, and you use some weird, incorrect one.'

Backing up his argument, Louis pointed to the French origin of the surname. 

'Theroux, it's a word of French origin,' he pointed out. I guess the related words would be ones like 'roux' (pronounced 'roo'), as in roux sauce...'  

Not to be outdone, Justin retorted: 'If you wanted to get technical, when you go to France they say 'Bonjour, Mr Terr-oo', they put the 'T' on it, so maybe you're wrong, maybe we're both wrong.'    

Prior to the pair's chat, Justin's uncle also commented on how the actor preferred to say his name during an interview with Apple TV+.

Paul Theroux stated: 'The main character is played by Justin Theroux, my nephew… Sometimes he calls himself Justin Tha-row [laughs]. It's a French name, it's Tha-roo.' 

Jake Gyllenhaal (Jake Gee-Len-Hey-Lo)

Jake Gyllenhaal has been a name on people's lips since he was a young actor but the universal pronunciation couldn't be more inaccurate.

Fans of both Jake and his sister Maggie usually say 'Jill-en-hall' but the actor opened up about the unexpected why his Swedish last name should be said.

In an TV interview with Conan O'Brien, he joked that 'only two places that that is pronounced correctly, my last name, is in Sweden and in Ikea.'

The correct way to say his name is 'Yen-len-hey-lo'.

Elder sibling Maggie has not weighed in on how she pronounces her name.  

Ariana Grande (Ariana Gran-dee)

Pop star Ariana Grande has previously revealed she allowed her last name to be pronounced incorrectly by the media.

The singer explained her last name is less like the coffee, and actually rhymes with candy.

She told Beats 1's Ebro Darden that she had pronounced her last name as 'gran-dee' when she was growing up.

In fact, the pronunciation has always been 'gran-dee' in the Grande family.

A video of the singer pronouncing her name as 'Grandee' and not 'Granday' left many fans stunned.

However she has continued to go with the popular pronunciation since the reveal.

Charlize Theron (Charlize There-in)

She's an Oscar-winning actress who's been in the public eye for three decades. 

Yet fans of Charlize Theron have been getting her name wrong the entire time and it's all down to the misleading 'o' in her surname. 

During a 2014 segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the Atomic Blonde star revealed that her surname is actually pronounced 'There-in' and said she wanted to make an audio tape for people who were saying it wrong. 

However, it seems she may need to listen to that tape back herself, as during an appearance on The One Show in 2020 she came up with another pronunciation. 

As host Gethin Jones questioned if the emphasis on her surname should be on the 'ther' or the 'on', she replied: 'The truth of the matter is those are not even remotely close to the real pronunciation.'

Charlize then claimed her surname - which originates in France -  is in fact pronounced 'Throne', with a slight roll of the 'r'.

Chrissy Teigen (Chrissy Tie-Ghen)

Chrissy Teigen shocked her Twitter followers in 2018 when she tweeted that nearly everyone mispronounces the name - which is Norwegian.

Though most people say it as 'tee-ghan,' the correct way to say her last name is actually 'tie-ghen'.

The star has confirmed several times that this is how she was taught how to pronounce her name when she was growing up. 

Martin Scorsese (Martin Scor-Sess-See)

Many fans of legendary director Martin Scorsese have been saying his name wrong for years.

Indeed, the popular way to pronounce the name is 'Scor-say-zee'.

However, he confirmed that it should be 'Scor-sess-see' in the fifth series of Entourage.