To the bewilderment of the internet, Grammy and Oscar-winning British singer, Adele, revealed how to pronounce her first name during ‘Happy Hour with Adele’ with fans last week. The clarification came in response to a songwriting question from a London-based fan, whom the singer praised for nailing the correct pronunciation of her name when she greeted her.
“Is she from Enfield or something? Love that. She said my name perfectly!” She then repeated the proper pronunciation a few times to moderator Benito Skinner as “uh-dale” instead of “uh-dell.”
Adele revealed that we've all been saying her name incorrectly. 👀 #BillboardNews pic.twitter.com/4zGL43wHS5
— billboard (@billboard) November 2, 2022
This little pronunciation failure makes us think of all the other times we have been guilty of saying our favorite celebrities’ names wrong. Here’s a list of 5 celebrities you’ll recognize, and are probably fans of… but never got their names right before.
1. Ariana Grande
i was today years old when i found out how to actually pronounce Ariana Grande’s name 🤥 pic.twitter.com/24caB2aoiP
— Rosie (@0hkatie) September 13, 2018
Ariana Grande shook the Internet when she clarified that her name was supposed to be pronounced like “Grand-ee” after revealing that her grandpa said “Grand-ee.” “I grew up saying ‘Grand-ee’ and I think of my grandpa and I wish I said ‘Grand-ee’ more,” Grande said.
2. Rihanna
The ‘What’s My Name’ singer revealed in an interview with HLN’s AJ Hammer that her name is pronounced “ree-anna” and not “ree-HA-na”. Have you been pronouncing Rihanna’s name wrong all this time?
3. Chrissy Teigen
Teigen acknowledged on LIVE With Kelly and Ryan that the correct way to pronounce her Norwegian last name is “tie-ghen”, not “tee-ghen”. Even though Teigen has introduced herself as the latter, causing others to say it that way too, her family members told her that the proper way to pronounce her last name at home — and in Norway — is “tie-ghen”.
4. Timothée Chalamet
Right off the bat, French names are indimidating – you never know which letters should be pronounced, and which lightly grazed. The Dune actor’s name is actually pronounced “Timo-TAY Shala-may”, not “Timo-THEE”, as one would ordinarily assume. On The Graham Norton Show, he joked that he doesn’t mind people often mispronouncing his name. “It’s whatever you’d like,” he grinned. “You could say Doug, Alex, Rick – whatever works.”
5. Zendaya
In a YouTube video, Zendaya said that people frequently pronounce her name incorrectly — it should be pronounced zen-day-uh—instead of zen-dye-uh. The Spider-Man star asserted, “I think a lot of people see my name and they think it’s more sophisticated than it is.” She also explained that her name means “To give thanks”.
