Denzel Washington Reveals You’ve Been Saying His Name Wrong

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Denzel Washington would like to reintroduce himself. 

In a recent conversation, the actor who portrayed Malcolm X made light of his shared love for American football and players with the same name as himself – notably Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, along with two more Denzels on the Arizona Cardinals. He humorously suggested that they were all named in his honor, despite a significant mispronunciation mistake regarding his name.

During his September 3 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, he clarified that his name isn’t typically pronounced ‘Denzel,’ as many might think. Instead, he emphasizes the first syllable, making it correctly pronounced as ‘Den ZEL’.

Nevertheless, the 70-year-old confessed that he primarily used his nickname to aid his mother, Lennis Washginton, in telling him apart from his father, Denzel Washginton Sr.

He reminisced, “My mother would ask, ‘Denzel?’ and we’d both appear. So she decided from then on, I was to be known as Denzel.” Thus, we started referring to me as Denzel.

It’s not just the character from Equalizer who goes by a different pronunciation than expected. NFL stars Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce have shared that their last name is typically pronounced as one syllable, like ‘Kels’, rather than the commonly used ‘Kel-see’. Their family splits it into two syllables, but in reality, it’s meant to be a single syllable.

Meanwhile, their father, Ed Kelce, was aware that they were saying the family name incorrectly, but he chose to let it slide in accordance with how others pronounced it instead.

In a recent episode of “New Heights,” I mentioned how my colleagues and I have adopted an alternative pronunciation for my professional name. Since everyone in the workplace uses it this way, I thought, “If they’re doing it, then why not? Let me go along with it too.” So, that’s what I decided to do.

Concerning the way Jason and Travis should pronounce their family name, Ed simply put it this way: “Feel free to do as you wish, as that’s exactly how I’ve always done it.

In another development, some stars changed their names altogether. For instance, Emma Stone, originally Emily Stone, revealed that she had to alter her professional name due to Emily Stone already being taken in the Screen Actors Guild.

During her interview on Today in 2024, she compared the situation to registering a business with an already taken name: “It’s like if I wanted to start a new business but someone else had already claimed my desired name.” However, she added jokingly, “You can call me whatever you like! I’ve always gone by Emily, but feel free to come up with a different name for me instead.

Keep reading for more stars whose name you might be saying wrong… 

In an interview with Town & Country in August 2025, the actress who played Spider-Man revealed that she is often referred to as “Kate-steen” or “Christ-ten”.

However, the correct way to say her name is “keer-sten.” 

“I don’t blame people,” she said. “You just give up.”

In 2025, the actor from “Equalizer” clarified that it was actually his mother, Lennis Washington, who inspired a change in him because he and his father shared the same name. He also added that fans had been mispronouncing his name for some time.

During his interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” he clarified that his name isn’t primarily pronounced as ‘Denzel.’ Instead, he emphasized the first syllable and prefers to be called simply as ‘Den-zel.’

On their podcast, New Heights, Travis and his brother Jason Kelce engaged in a discussion about which pronunciation they should use – “Kel-see” or simply “Kels”. Ultimately, Travis chose to go with the simpler version, “Kels”.

As a lifestyle expert speaking to TopMob News in February 2022, I wanted to clarify that when referring to my last name, it should be pronounced as if it rhymes with ‘out’ rather than ‘lot’. This small yet important detail ensures accurate pronunciation and adds clarity for those who may not be familiar with the unique spelling of my surname.

After many people were unsure about her nickname, the model clarified it in a TikTok posted by Tory Burch. She revealed the correct pronunciation of her surname as “Rat-A-Shoo-Skey”.

In the popular show “That’s So Raven,” Raven-Symoné’s character had the ability to foresee the future. However, it turns out that this twist wasn’t as surprising as the one fans encountered in early 2023 when the actress disclosed on TikTok that her name has been mispronounced for years – it should be pronounced “See-mon-ye” instead of what was previously thought.

Following an unfortunate misunderstanding over the last name of an Oscar winner during a December 2022 interview for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Adam Sandler (known for his role as George of the Jungle) offered a helpful hint to fans struggling to remember how to correctly pronounce this moniker. His trick is simple: Fraser rhymes with razor.

In October 2022, during a question-and-answer session, the accomplished vocalist commended a fan for accurately pronouncing her name as “uh-dale” when posing a query.

In a video posted on TikTok in February 2022, Lindsay Lohan clarified the correct pronunciation of her surname, which should be pronounced as “Lo-han”.

The actress from the movie “Clueless” clarified the correct pronunciation of her name on TikTok. Alicia explained that she doesn’t mind if fans mispronounce her name, but for her mother’s sake, let’s say it correctly: Ali-SEE-yuh.

“My name is Kesha. Keh-sha,” the singer said on TikTok. “Not Keisha. Not Ketchup. Kesha.”

In a recent interview with Apple TV+, it was disclosed by the actor from The Leftovers, who happens to be Chris Theroux’s uncle, that many of us, including him (Justin), have been mispronouncing “Theroux” all along!

Paul Theroux, the novelist, clarified that Justin Theroux is the one portraying the main character in the television adaptation of his book. Later, he jokingly added that his nephew occasionally refers to himself as Justin “Theroux” – a nod to its French-sounding name.

In the year 2018, the pop sensation left many stunned as she clarified the proper pronunciation of her surname. During a discussion about her engagement with Pete Davidson, Ariana shared her thoughts on whether or not she’d adopt his last name in an interview with Beats 1’s Ebro Darden. It was during this conversation that she accidentally revealed the “gran-dee” pronunciation for her own family name.

The author of the book titled “Cravings” left everyone in awe when she revealed the proper pronunciation of her last name during an interview on “Live With Kelly and Ryan” in 2018. In this conversation, the model confessed that she was responsible for the frequent mispronunciations and admitted to being tired of having to correct people after 25 years.

In a conversation with Jimmy Kimmel, the actress who plays Wonder Woman discussed the correct pronunciation (guh-dote) and the meaning behind her surname, which is Hebrew for “Riverbank.” She revealed that her original last name was Greenstein, but her parents felt it needed more impact and thus chose Gadot instead.

As a lifestyle enthusiast, let me share an intriguing fact about pronunciation that left me quite astonished. During a talk show appearance in 2012, the actor revealed that his surname is correctly pronounced only in two places – Sweden and IKEA! Isn’t it fascinating how global brands can bridge cultural gaps like this?

He has openly spoken about how often his name is mistaken, but in 2011, he told The Hollywood Reporter that he would never alter it because it was named after his step-grandfather, whom he shares the same pronunciation with.

According to the legendary singer’s IMDb page, her stage name is pronounced shar-day.

In 2014, during an appearance on “Running Late with Scott Rogowsky,” the actor from Fargo clarified that his last name is pronounced as boo-sem-ee. He noted, though, that he doesn’t correct others when they pronounce it as boo-shh-em-me, stating that it’s not incorrect.

In 2014, the Academy Award winner humorously mentioned during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that her surname is often mispronounced. She jokingly commented, “They get it wrong,” and even considered creating an audio guide to help people pronounce her name correctly.

Correctly pronounce the actress from The Queen’s Gambit, whose name is pronounced ‘Anna-ya’, not ‘Awn-ya’.

The actress who was part of the “Mean Girls” movie has left many people echoing Karen’s famous line because in 2012, during an interview with “Hollywood Streams”, she disclosed that the correct pronunciation of her last name is sigh-frid. However, she mentioned that her sister pronounces it differently than she does.

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2025-09-04 18:17