Chrissy Teigen, Joe Manganiello and More Celebs Whose Names We’ve Been Saying Wrong

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Chrissy Teigen, Joe Manganiello and More Celebs Whose Names We've Been Saying Wrong

That’s not how you say it! Chrissy Teigen, Joe Manganiello, Alicia Silverstone and more Hollywood stars have revealed that their names have been mispronounced throughout much of their careers. In September 2018, the Cravings cookbook author took to Twitter to share that her last name is pronounced “tie-gen not tee-gan.” When asked why Teigen never bothered to correct anyone before, she answered with a witty retort. “I don't correct people, ever,” she responded at the time. “They can call me Janet and I won't. Wrong order? I'll eat it. Taxi going to the wrong airport? I'll change my flight." Teigen isn’t the celeb who’s revealed the correct way to refer to them. The True Blood alum previously explained how to say his tricky last name in a 2014 Just Jared video. “Hi, I’m Joe Mang-I-Nello,” he said, repeating the line several times in an attempt to teach viewers to say his moniker correctly. The How I Met Your Mother actor’s brother, Nick Manganiello, also appeared in the clip. The siblings were asked what the worst iteration of their last name was. “Too many to list,” the One Tree Hill alum said. “I mean, probably the people who throw Rs in there, ‘Manga-Relo.’” Joe’s brother noted that others pronounce the name using a J sound instead of a G, replying that he’s heard others say “Manga-jello” and “Man-jello.” “You missed, like, ten letters bro,” the Magic Mike XXL star quipped. [jwplayer y0YmrxFz-zhNYySv2] In 2021, a trending TikTok sound asked, “Tell me what your name is and then tell me what people mispronounce it as.” Silverstone, who had just recently joined the platform at the time, participated in the challenge to clear the air on how to say her first name. “My name is Ali-see-yuh. Ali-see-yuh. Not Alee-sha,” the Clueless star begrudgingly revealed in the June 2021 clip. She also captioned the video, “Just an FYI… It’s Ali-SEE-yuh.” After the Blast From the Past actress set the record straight about her name, fans commented on her social media page apologizing for mispronouncing it for decades. Silverstone replied to one user with the tears of joy emoji and heart emoji. “It doesn’t bother me though!” she replied. “But my sweet mama didn't like it... so for her... get it right! Ali-SEE-yuh.” Keep scrolling to see which stars' names are frequently mispronounced — and to learn how to correctly say them:

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Raven-Symone

Raven-Symoné revealed via TikTok in January 2023 that fans have been mispronouncing her name since she starred on Disney Channel. While many of the That’s So Raven alum’s followers have been saying her name “Raven Sim-moan,” she clarified that it’s actually pronounced “See-mon-ye.”

The Raven’s House star playfully confirmed the news in the clip. “Shut up, it is not,” a voice said in the background as the actress mouthed back, “Yes, it is!”

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Brendan Fraser

The Whale actor revealed in December 2022 that people have been pronouncing his last name incorrectly for years. "It's Fraser," he said during an interview with Variety, explaining that it rhymes with "razor."

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Adele

The Grammy winner revealed that she prefers to pronounce her first name as "uh-DALE" — rather than the more common pronunciation, "uh-dell" — during a fan Q&A in October 2022 to promote her "I Drink Wine" music video.

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Lindsay Lohan

When she joined TikTok in February 2022, the Mean Girls actress introduced herself in her first post and put the emphasis on the "o" in her last name instead of the "a." One user joked in the comments, "Have I been pronouncing your name wrong my entire life? I thought it was LoHAAAN."

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Alicia Silverstone

The Clueless actress playfully put fans on blast while participating in a June 2021 TikTok trend. "Tell me what your name is and then tell me what people mispronounce it as," a video challenged, to which Silverstone replied with a shrug, "My name is Ali-SEE-yuh ... not Alee-Sha."

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Kesha

"My name is Kesha. Keh-sha," the "Praying" singer emphasized in an April 2021 TikTok video. "Not Kee-Sha. Not Ketchup. Kesha."

Her mom, Pebe Sebert, also clarified the pronunciation for fans in an upload of her own. "The name Kesha's actually a Hungarian family name that [my son] Lagan would have been named if he had been a girl," the songwriter said. "But since he wasn't, the name is actually pronounced Ket-ta-cha in Hungarian and so I decided to make it easier and to make it Kesha. And that's where Kesha came from."

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Justin Theroux

The Leftovers alum opened up about working on Apple TV+'s The Mosquito Coast, a show based on the novel by his uncle Paul Theroux — and the relatives couldn't quite agree on the correct way to pronounce their surname. "Sometimes he calls himself Justin Tha-row," the author teased his nephew in the April 2021 clip. "It's a French name, it's Tha-roo."

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Khloe Kardashian

In March 2021, Andy Cohen put fans of Keeping Up With the Kardashians on blast when he revealed that they've all been saying the Good American cofounder's name wrong since the reality series premiered. "It’s Khlo-ay,” Cohen explained on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "Khlo-ay is the name. There’s a little accent over the name."

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Thandiwe Newton

Newton, whose name was misspelled in a 1991 film and never corrected, revealed the real spelling of her full name and the correct pronunciation in a 2021 interview with British Vogue: Tan-DEE-way.

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Chrissy Teigen

After years of being in the spotlight, the model surprised fans when she took to social media to reveal that her name was not what people thought. “I’m tired of living this lie. It’s Tie-Gan, isn’t it mom?” she said in a Twitter video in September 2018, correcting those who have always pronounced it Tee-Gan all these years — including herself.

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Ariana Grande

The pop star’s last name isn’t the size of a Starbucks drink. The “God Is a Women” songstress explained in an August 2018 interview that it’s actually pronounced Gran-DEE, however, when she was little, her brother, Frankie Grande, convinced them that Gran-DAY was more fun, so it’s stuck with them ever since.

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Amanda Seyfried

Despite the spelling, the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again star’s name is not to be pronounced Say-Fried — it’s actually Sigh-Fred.

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Isla Fisher

Just because the TAG actress’ name looks easy to say, many people are thrown off by the S in Isla. The correct way is simple Eye-La.

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Saoirse Ronan

Say what? The Irish actress’ name even looks intimidating, sparking many talk show hosts to ask her to sample how to say it correctly, with her explaining it’s to be said like Ser-Sha.

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Joe Manganiello

That’s a fun last name! The Magic Mike actor debunked the many incorrect ways to say his last name in a fun video interview with JustJared in June 2014. “Hi, I’m Joe Mang-I-Nello,” he said, teaching fans the right way to say it.

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Eva Mendes

Another easy-looking name that’s often mispronounced. The E in the actress’ name should be said like an A, making it sound like Ava.

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Ralph Lauren

The fashion designer’s last name is often confused to sound more exotic, like Lor-En, but it’s actually to be pronounced like the female first name, exactly how it’s spelled.