Are We MISPRONOUNCING Travis Kelce’s Name?
Sometimes even werewolves get a case of the scaries.
Because if we’re being honest, we’re still a little shook by Taylor Lautner’s revelation that he allowed his legions of fans to mispronounce his name (FYI: It’s Lout-ner, not Lawt-ner) more or less to keep the peace.
“I never corrected anybody for decades,” the Twilight star admitted in a July episode of The Unplanned Podcast With Matt & Abby, speculating that the first time it happened was around age 11, “like after Sharkboy and Lavagirl.”
As Taylor, now 31, added, “I wasn’t gonna tell people they were pronouncing my name wrong.”
And he’s not the only unfailingly polite star. Because, as it turns out, we’ve also been fumbling over Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce, which was news to us and some Kansas City Chiefs players.
While on the sidelines of the Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins game Jan. 13, defensive tackle Chris Jones, as seen in an Inside the NFL clip, told his teammates, “So y’all know it’s not even Travis Kel-see?” As for what it is then? Well, as Chris explained, “It’s Travis Kels. F–king crazy, right?”
Also f–king crazy? Celebs like Alicia Silverstone, Lindsay Lohan and Raven-Symoné have pretty much just let fans’ missteps slide for decades and Chrissy Teigen even proclaimed in 2018 that she’d prefer everyone just keep saying her name wrong rather than commit to the proper Norwegian pronunciation.
But if you’re the perfectionist type, we’ve got your guide to every last celebrity name you’ve definitely been saying wrong.
Jamie Squire / Getty Images
Travis Kelce (Pronounced: Kels)
Travis and brother Jason Kelce debated on their New Heights podcast whether to go by “Kel-see” or “Kels,” with Travis deciding to do the latter.
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
Taylor Lautner (Pronounced: Lout-Ner)
Speaking with E! News in February 2022, Taylor revealed the first syllable of his last name rhymes with “out” instead of being pronounced as “lot.”
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows
Emily Ratajkowski (Pronounced: Rat-Ah-Kof-Sky or Rat-Ah-Cow-Skee)
After much speculation surrounding her moniker, the model set the record straight in a TikTok shared by Tory Burch, where she provided “the Polish way” to say it. She has also introduced herself by pronouncing her last name “Rat-Ah-Cow-Skee.”
TikTok
Raven-Symoné (Pronounced: See-mon-ye)
While Raven-Symoné’s character could see the future on That’s So Raven, fans likely didn’t see this coming. The actress revealed in a January 2023 TikTok that her name has been mispronounced for years and is actually pronounced See-mon-ye.
Taylor Hill/WireImage
Brendan Fraser (Pronounced: Fray-zer)
After Adam Sandler accidentally mispronounced the Oscar winner’s last name during a December 2022 interview for Variety‘s Actors on Actors series, the George of the Jungle star swung in with a trick that can help fans remember how to say the moniker correctly: Fraser rhymes with razor.