Even they can't decide.
Words are funny in that sometimes they're pronounced differently than the way they're spelled. Whether it's some letters being silent or letters being pronounced differently than normal, chances are the first time someone sees this word without hearing it, they'll mispronounce it. This could be because the word comes from a different language, whether real or fictional, which has different pronunciation rules than English (whose own spelling rules are very inconsistent), or the creator simply wanted the word to sound exotic by giving it an unusual pronunciation.
Sometimes a false pronunciation becomes so ingrained among the audience that the correct way becomes an outlier. In the most extreme examples, it could lead to Viewer Name Confusion, where the audience can't even remember the character's name properly. Incorrect pronunciations can also occur if the work was inconsistent with the proper pronunciation before settling on a final one.
See Accidental Misnaming for instances where characters pronounce a name incorrectly. Pronouncing My Name for You is when a character's name is acknowledged to have an unintuitive reading and they explain how it's pronounced. Pretentious Pronunciation is when a character insists on using an odd pronunciation for a word in an attempt to sound classy.
Note that this trope is for when the official pronunciation is available and no one within the work itself gets it wrong, but the audience is confused about the pronunciation.
No Real Life Examples, Please!, as English alone has enough words with confusing pronunciations to fill a book (and such books exist).
Example Subpages:
Other Examples:
open/close all folders
Advertising
- The Bimbo brand of white bread is officially pronounced "BEEM-bo" (/ˈbiːmboʊ/), but because "bimbo" with a short "i" /ˈbɪmboʊ/ is a common slang term for an attractive, but unintelligent woman, the brand name is often read identically to it. This became such an issue for the bread company that they eventually adopted "Say 'Beembo!'" as their slogan.
- Goetze's Caramel Creams candy was often mispronounced as "goats" (/goʊtz/), to the point that for a time they had "Pronounced 'getz'" on the package.
- La Quinta Inn and Suites used to have "Pronounced 'la-KEEN-ta'" on their website.
- When cash-back-from-online-shopping site Rakuten was first introduced, they had tv spots promoting a prize for the 1st person who could pronounce their name correctly. Passers-by were shown stopping to look at a sign and butchering the name in various ways: rah-KOOT-en, RAY-khuh-teen, etc., until a guy finally hits on rack-oo-ten.
Anime & Manga
- Aggretsuko: Retsuko's name is pronounced /ˈrɛtskoʊ/ ("rets-ko"), but some people mispronounce it as /rɛtˈsuːkoʊ/ ("Ret-SOO-koh"). It doesn't help that the Castilian Spanish dub uses this mispronunciation.
- AKIRA: The title character's name is officially pronounced /ˈɑːkirə/ ("AH-key-ruh"; accent on the first syllable), per the Japanese reading of the name, but audiences in the Anglosphere frequently misread it as /əˈkɪərə/ ("uh-KEER-uh" accent on the second syllable) or /əˈkaɪrə/ ("uh-KIE-ruh").
- Bleach: Yhwach gets this pretty bad thanks to him having a German(ish) name that's then translated into Japanese. Due to the way it's spelled and pronounced in Japanese - "Yuuhabahha", some pronounce it /jəˈwɑːtʃ/ ("yuh-WAHTCH"), /jəˈwɒtʃ/ ("yuh-WOTCH"), /jəˈwætʃ/ ("yuh-WACH", rhyming with "batch"), or, most commonly, /juːhəˈbɑːk/ ("yoo-huh-BAHK"). If actually pronounced in German, the pronounciation would be something along the lines of /jyˈvɑːx/ ("[German y (the 'ü' sound)]-vakh", the final consanant being like the "ch" in Scottish "loch"). The English dub of the anime uses the same pronounciation as the Japanese version, although it's possible that this was a decision made in order to match the Mouth Flaps.
- Likewise, it is unclear how exactly the consonant cluster that is Pernida Parngkjas' last name is supposed to be pronounced. The Japanese pronunciation, "Parunkajasu", does little to offer clarification. Like with Yhwach's name, the English dub retains the Japanese pronunciation (with emphasis on the second syllable: "puh-ROON-kuh-jahs").
- In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba:
- For Cowardly Lion Zenitsu Agtsuma, in the original Japanese there's emphasis on the Zen, spelling it: Zen - i - tsu, rather than calling him: Ze - ni - tsu like most westerners do. If his name had been officially romanized as Zen'itsu, perhaps it would have made it easier for westerners to understand how to properly call Zenitsu's name.
- Concerning Zohakuten, the demon born out of Hantengu's fused emotions, and his strongest one; the "u" in his name is silent in Japanese, meaning his name is pronounced "Zoh-hahk-ten". Despite this, most western fans pronounce his name as "Zoh-hahk-oo-ten".
- Elfen Lied: To those who don't know German, it's easy to assume that the second part of the title is pronounced like the word "lied" (/laɪd/) as opposed to the correct "leed" (/liːd/).
- Eureka SeveN: Many people mistakenly think Eureka's name is pronounced /juˈriːkə/ ("yoo-REE-ka"), but it's actually pronounced /eɪ.uːˈriːkə/ ("eh-oo-REE-ka").
- Hunter × Hunter: The character Hisoka's name is pronounced /ˈhiːsoʊkə/ ("HI-soh-kuh") with emphasis on the first syllable in both the Japanese and English versions, but most fans pronounce it as /hɪ'soʊkə/ ("hi-SOH-kuh"), emphasizing the second syllable. Gon's name is frequently mispronounced as "gone" when it rhymes with "cone".
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind:
- Mista's name is pronounced /ˈmiːstə/ ("MEE-sta"), but English-speaking fans frequently pronounce it as /ˈmɪstə/ ("MISS-ta").
- Narancia's name is pronounced "na-RAN-cha" (/nəˈræntʃə/), not "na-RAN-see-ah" (/nəˈrænsiːə/) or "na-RAN-sha" (/nəˈrænʃə/).
- Leone Abbacchio's first name is pronounced "leh-OH-ne", not "LEE-on" or "lee-OWN".
- "Passione" is pronounced "pahss-ee-OH-neh" with a "si", not "pashy-OWN" or "pashy-OWN-eh" with a "shi".
- Diavolo's name is pronounced "dee-UH-vo-lo", not "dee-uh-VO-lo".
- Monster (1994): People not familiar with German names who have only read the manga (or watched the sub of the anime without paying attention to the audio) often mispronounce the names. The most common is Johan as Joe-Han when it's actually Yo-Han, and Lunge as the English word when it's pronounced "lun-gay".
- Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ:
- The title and eponymous ZZ Gundam don't have the "ZZ" pronounced "Zee-Zee" or even "Zed-Zed". It's an abbreviation for "Double Zeta", as it is a successor to the Zeta Gundam.
- Elpeo Ple's name is not pronounced "El-pi-o Pleh", rather it's an oblique play on the English word "people", thus "Elpy Pull" (which becomes "Erupi Puru" in Japanese).
- My Hero Academia: Fumikage Tokoyami's first name is often pronounced "Fumi-cage" by English speakers. The correct Japanese pronunciation is "Fu-mi-kah-geh".
- Neon Genesis Evangelion:
- The term "Evangelion", an extant word repurposed for the series, is officially pronounced with a hard "g" (as in "go"). However, because "Evangelion" is spelled similarly to and shares an etymology with the term "evangelism" (and variations thereof), which uses a soft "g" (as in "giraffe"), it's common to hear Anglophones read it as "ee-van-jelly-on". The mispronunciation is so common, in fact, that it's a common subject for memes among Evangelion fans.
- Asuka's name is pronounced "ahs-kuh", but a few fans have mispronounced it as "ah-soo-kuh". Not helping matters is that the Castilian Spanish dub uses the latter mispronunciation.
- One Piece:
- The official pronunciation for X Drake's name is "Diez Drake", but people often incorrectly call him "Ecks Drake". This is despite both the original Japanese and the English dub of the anime pronouncing the name correctly. The unusual pronunciation is because "Diez" is Spanish for "ten", which is represented by the Roman numeral X.
- Also applies to Germa 66, the mercenary army led by the Vinsmoke Family. The "66" is officially pronounced as "Double-Six", yet there are still some people who incorrectly pronounce it as the number "sixty-six".
- Rocks D. Xebec's given name is often pronounced "zeh-BECK", but the correct pronunciation—based the Japanese spelling and the English dub—is "ZEE-beck". This is the same way the original word "xebec" (a type of ship) is pronounced.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Madoka's name is pronounced "MAH-doh-kah", but many people in the English-speaking fandom pronounce it as "mah-DOH-kah".
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Simon's name is pronounced /simon/ in Japanese, which may be approimated in English as "Sea-monn", "Sea-mawn" or "Sea-moan", depending on accent, not like the common name Simon.
- The Vision of Escaflowne: Van's name is pronounced like /vɑːn/ "Vahn", not like the vehicle.
Comics
- The titular heroine of Jucika, being a Hungarian namenote , is pronounced as [ˈjutsikɒ], which is most closely approximated in English as /ˈjuːtsikɑː/ ("YOO-tsi-kah"), but among English-speakers it tends to be confused for /dʒuːˈsiːkə/ "Joo-SEE-kuh" or even /ˈdʒusɪkɑː/ "JOO-sik-uh".
- Invincible: For the entire run of the comic, it was pretty universally assumed by fans that Angstrom Levy's last name was pronounced /ˈlɛviː/ ("LEH-vee"). When the comic was later adapted as a TV show and Angstrom's name was spoken out loud, it turned out to be actually be pronounced /ˈliːviː/ ("LEE-vee"), much to the fandom's bafflement.
- Long after the city of Blüdhaven was introduced in Nightwing, Dick identified a gang of thieves as out-of-towners because they called it "Blood-haven", when the umlaut clearly indicates that it's "Blewd-haven". Fans, of course, have always called it "Blood-haven" and even media outside the comics pronounces it this way.
- X-Men: Sauron is usually pronounced /ˈsɔːrɒn/ ("SORE-on"), while his namesake from The Lord of the Rings is /ˈsaʊərɒn/ ("SOUR-on"). This makes him a double example: in-universe, where he named himself after the Lord of the Rings villain but pronounces his name differently, and with fans more familiar with Tolkien's Sauron and pronounce his name the same way.
Fan Works
- Junior Officers: Deborah's name is said to be pronounced "deb-oh-rah", but some readers mistakenly think it's pronounced "debra" due to the unconventional pronunciation.
Films — Animation
- Encanto: Coinciding with Viewer Name Confusion, some viewers mispronounce Isabela's name like /ɪzəˈbɛlə/ ("iz-uh-BEL-uh"; like Isabella, a semi-common English name), when it's actually pronounced /isaˈbelə/, more closely approximated in English as /iːsəˈbɛlə/ "ee-sa-BEL-uh".
- In Frozen, Anna's name is pronounced /ˈɑːnə/ ("AH-na") to sound more Norwegian, though many viewers use the more common English pronunciation /ˈænə/ "ANN-a".
- The title of Princess Mononoke is frequently pronounced by English speakers as /mɒnəˈnoʊki/ "Mon-uh-no-key", while it's meant to be pronounced /moʊnoʊnoʊkeɪ/ "Moh-no-no-keh".
- Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros: Many viewers use the Spanish pronunciation for Jose Carioca's name (saying the J with an H sound) instead of the proper Portuguese pronunciation (which uses a soft J instead, like the G in "beige"), to the point where even Disney themselves gets it wrong in modern times. Not helping matters is that in the original films, he's mostly referred to as Joe Carioca instead of Jose, save for Panchito, who uses the Spanish pronunciation due to being Mexican.
- Turning Red: Meilin Lee goes by Mei most of the time which rhymes with "May"note but many people think it rhymes with "my" or "me".
Literature
- When discussing Animorphs, some people pronounce Yeerk as "yerk" (/jɜːrk/), while others pronounce it as "year-k" (/jɪərk/). The TV show went with the former, while the audiobooks went with the latter.
- Beowulf: The titular Beowulf's name is pronounced "BAY-oh-wolf" (/ˈbeɪ.oʊwʊlf/), but some readers have mispronounced it as "BEE-oh-wolf" (/ˈbiːoʊwʊlf/).
- The Berenstain Bears: Doubling as Viewer Name Confusion, many people think "Berenstain" (pronounced /ˈbɛrənsteɪn/; "berren-stayn") is pronounced /ˈbɛrənstaɪn/ ("berren-styne") or /ˈbɛrənstiːn/ ("berren-steen") due to false memories of the title being spelled "Berenstein".
- The Chanur Novels don't have an official pronunciation guide such as a lexicon at the back of the book like some might, but some hints are provided as to how some of the alien languages are meant to be said. Particularly, the main character Pyanfar Chanur actually does provide the pronunciation of her own name, but only several chapters in so you may well have been pronouncing it like pian-farr up until she tells another character that it's pie-ann-far, while her clan's name is given as being pronounced cha-nurr rather than chan-ur or a French-like sha-nur. Her niece Hilfy gets it even worse than that, not being clarified for several whole books of the series, so you might have gone through almost the entire narrative pronouncing it like hill-fee before it's suddenly stated that it's hill-fie instead. And that's not even getting into how the hell you're supposed to pronounce kif names and words.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Violet Beauregarde's surname is officially pronounced /ˈboʊrɛgɑːr/ ("bo-reh-gar"), but a lot of people mispronounce it as /ˈbɔːrəgɑːrd/ ("bor-a-gard"). It doesn't help that the movies use that mispronunciation, nor that the Oompa-Loompa song from the book suggests it (rhyming "That is why we try so hard / To save Miss Violet Beauregarde"). This is actually correct based on French spelling rules; the actual surname is spelled "Beauregard", and a final -e would indicate that the preceding consonant letter is pronounced. Part of the problem is that the name is naturally pronounced a bit differently with an American accent than with Roald Dahl's native British accent, and both of the movie versions make Violet American.
- A Court of Thorns and Roses: There's a bit of debate amongst readers over how to pronounce Rhysand's name. His nickname of Rhys is a real given name (Welsh in origin) pronounced the same as Reese, so some naturally assume Rhysand is pronounced "reese-and". However, others pronounce it as "rye-sand" or even "ris-and". Eventually, a pronunciation guide was released stating it's pronounced "ree-sand", though some readers still find it confusing or hard to adjust after spending years pronouncing it differently. Funnily enough, a few readers admitted they pronounced his nickname as "reese" but his full name as "rye-sand". Readers who are unfamiliar with the name Rhys were also known to say it as "rice" or "rise", adding to the confusion.
- Don Quixote: Don Quixote's name is pronounced in Spanish as [doŋ kiˈxote], approximated in English as /ˌdɒn kiːˈhoʊteɪ/ "don kee-HO-tay", but the way it's spelled has made English-speakers think it's pronounced /ˌdɒn kwɪksoʊti/ "don kwix-OH-tee".
- Harry Potter:
- According to J. K. Rowling, Voldemort's name is pronounced "VOL-de-mor" (after the French word for "death"). However, when the movies came out they clearly enunciated the t, cementing this as the standard pronunciation. In public readings Rowling has herself been inconsistent in her pronunciation of the name, and has accepted she's probably the only one who still thinks of the t as silent (other than French-speaking fans, of course).
- Hermione, which is pronounced "her-MY-uh-nee" but is frequently mispronounced "her-me-ohn", caused so much confusion that the fourth book has a scene where Hermione tries to explain how to pronounce her name to Viktor Krum, who keeps calling her "Hermy-own" like the fans do. After her correction, he switches to "Herm-own-ninny", which she deems "close enough".
- Draco Malfoy's surname is pronounced "MAL-foy", though some of the audiobooks and some fans say it as "Mal-FOY", with the stress on the second syllable.
- Readers unfamiliar with Irish names didn't realise that Seamus Finnegan's first name is supposed to be 'shay-mus', and got a start when Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had it spoken aloud by Harry. Similarly the wrestler Sheamus spelled his with the h to make the pronunciation obvious to American audiences.
- Hercule Poirot: The titular Hercule Poirot's surname is pronounced "pwa-roh", but many have mispronounced it "poy-rot" or "poy-roh". Similarly, his first name is pronounced "air-cule", not "her-cule".
- The Hobbit: Smaug's name is pronounced /smaʊg/ ("smowg", with the vowel of "cow"), but many readers mispronounce it as /smɔːg/ ("smawg", with the vowel of "law").
- Les Misérables: Marius's name is usually pronounced by English speakers either as /ˈmɑːriːəs/ ("MAH-ree-uhs") or /ˈmæriːəs/ ("MARRY-uhs"). Most productions of the musical pronounce it the latter way, due to the Original Cast Precedent of the 1985 London cast. Its authentic French pronunciation is [maʁiˈjys
], which is most closely approximated in English as either /mɑːriːˈuːs/ ("mar-ee-OOCE") or /mæriːˈuːs/ "marry-OOCE".note
- Life of Pi: Piscine Patelnote 's name is often mispronounced "pis-kine pat-il" since not everyone knows that "piscine" is the French word for "pool". It's actually pronounced "Piss-een pat-el".
- The Lightlark Saga: A not insignificant number of readers aren't too clear on how to pronounce Isla's name. The official audiobook pronounces it as "eyes-la". However, Isla is also a given name from Scotland, pronounced "eye-la" (with the "s" being silent) and the Spanish word for island, which is pronounced closer to "ees-la".
- The Stormlight Archive: Jasnah's name is officially pronounced "yas-nah" (with a Y sound as in "you") in the audiobook releases, but fans who don't listen to those (and even some who do) tend to say "jas-nah" (with a J sound).
- The Warlord Chronicles: The Welsh names can cause confusion for non-Welsh readers, unaware that a single <f> is pronounced /v/ in Welshnote and <dd> is pronounced /ð/ (like the "th" in "though") in Welsh.
- Derfel should be pronounced "DER-vel", but many readers will say "DER-fel" due to the spelling.
- Gorfyddyd should be "gor-VITH-id" ("th" as in "though"), but many will say "gor-FITH"-id or even "gor-FID-id".
- The Witcher: Geralt's name is pronounced /'gɛrəlt/ ("GEH-rult"), with a hard G like in "get", but some people have wrongly believed it's pronounced /'dʒɛrəlt/ ("JEH-rult") with a soft G like in "gel".
- Zuleika Dobson: In the preface to the 1922 edition, the author informs us that "Zuleika" should be pronounced "Zu-leek-a"; his readers had been using "Zu-like-a", much to his disapproval.
Live-Action TV
- Breaking Bad: Several episode titles are in Spanish or Navajo such as "Negro Y Azul", "Abiquiu" and "To'hajiilee", making the pronunciation non-obvious for many viewers.
- Doctor Who:
- The name of the Dalek species is pronounced in the show as /ˈdɑːlɛk/ ("DAH-leck"), with the A as in "father". However, a sizable number of folks in the US and Canada mispronounce it any number of ways (e.g. reading the A like "apple" or "aphid", or pronouncing the last syllable as "lick") due to preexisting differences between British and North American dialects tripping them up. This is poked fun at in An Adventure in Space and Time, where Verity Lambert has to repeatedly correct series creator Sydney Newman's mispronunciations of "Dalek" (Newman was Canadian).
- Davros's name is always pronounced in the show as /ˈdævrɒs/ ("DAV-ross"), but many North American fans pronounce it as /ˈdævroʊs/ ("DAV-roce") or /ˈdɑːvroʊs/ "DAHV-roce", reflecting a common difference between British and American accents in the pronunciation of words ending in "-os".
- Clara Oswald's first name is pronounced /ˈklɑːrə/ ("CLAR-a"), but North American viewers sometimes pronounce it as /ˈklɛərə/ ("CLAIRE-a"), as that is how the name Clara is usually pronounced in North America.
- In "The War Machines", the name of the evil computer WOTAN is pronounced as /ˈvoʊtæn/ ("VOE-tan"), but many viewers pronounce it /ˈwoʊtæn/ ("WOE-tan") as spelt.
- In "The Macra Terror", the name of the titular Monsters of the Week the Macra is pronounced as /ˈmækrə/ ("MAK-ra") in the show, but some fans say /ˈmɑːkrə/ ("MAHK-ra") instead.
- In "The Masque of Mandragora", the word "Mandragora" is clearly pronounced as /mænˈdrægərə/ ("man-DRAG-uh-ra") throughtout the story, but many fans instead pronounce it as /mændrəˈgɔːrə/ ("man-dra-GORE-a").
- In "The Ribos Operation", the titular planet is pronounced as /ˈriːbɒs/ ("REE-boss") by the characters, but fans will often say /ˈraɪbɒs/ ("RYE-boss"), and if they're from North America they might even say /ˈraɪboʊs/ ("RYE-boce").
- In "Silence in the Library"/ "Forest of the Dead", the name of the Monsters of the Week the Vashta Nerada is pronounced /ˈvæʃtə nəˈrɑːdə/ ("VASH-ta na-RAH-da"), but some fans pronounce Vashta as /ˈvɑːʃtə/ ("VAHSH-ta") instead.
- The eponymous Akhaten in "The Rings of Akhaten" is pronounced /ˈækətɛn/ ("AK-uh-ten"), as indicated by the spelling in the episode title. However, fans often mispronounce it as /ˈækətæn/ "AK-uh-tan", instead.
- Spartacus: Blood and Sand:
- Kore's name is supposed to be 'core-eh' but many viewers mistakenly say it as the same as 'Corey', not helped by the emphasis Simon Merrells puts on it when addressing her in the series.
- Sibyl's name is actually pronounced to rhyme with 'bell', so 'si-bell' (and it was originally supposed to be spelt Cybelle going by the audition notes). It's frequently mistaken for 'sib-ull'.
- Teletubbies frequently has its title mispronounced by Americans as "Tel-eh-tubbies" instead of "Tel-ee-tubbies" (as in "telly", the British slang word for television), even though the name is spoken throughout the show.
- Ultra Series: Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad, the sequel to Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy, brings back a villain from the earlier show, Absolute Titan, who isn't called by name previously (his name appears on promotional materials like magazine scans) and it turns out his name is pronounced as Absolute "Tee-tan" (in both the show's original and English dub), rather than "Ti-tan" (as in, "Attack on Titan").
Music
- bbno$'s name is pronounced "baby no money", but some people mistakenly pronounce it in ways such as "bee bee no money" or "B-B-N-O". Other fans purposely mispronounce it for fun as “Bee-bee-nos”.
- blink-182 is pronounced "Blink One Eighty Two" rather than "Blink One Eight Two" or "Blink One Hundred And Eighty Two".
- INXS is pronounced "In Excess", not "I-N-X-S" or "Inks".
- IOSYS is pronounced "ee-oh-sees", not "I-O-S-Y-S".
- NOFX is officially pronounced "no ef-ex", but some fans understandably say it as "En Oh Ef Ex".
- R.E.M.: A number of people in the band's native US mispronounce their name as rɛ́m (reflecting the US pronunciation of "REM," as in the band's namesake, REM sleep) rather than the intended pronunciation, ɑ́ːrɪjɛ́m (i.e. "R-E-M," reflecting the UK pronunciation of "REM").
- Tiësto - The 'ë' in the name was an effort to avert this. Without it, Dutch readers may pronounce it "TEE-sto".
- The Vocaloid character Daina is pronounced like "Die-Na" but more than a few fans thought it was pronounced "Day-na".
Tabletop Games
- Dungeons & Dragons: The Ixitxachitl are these Always Chaotic Evil manta ray-like creatures whose name tends to confuse to hell out of most players. They eventually started just providing a pronunciation guide (It's "Ix-it-Zatch-it-ul").
Theatre
- This is very common among audiences of opera, because the Italian and French names of opera characters are often difficult for English speakers to pronounce
- Carmen (1875): English speakers usually pronounce the title character's name as "CAR-men", when its authentic French pronunciation (despite the Spanish setting, it's still a French opera) has the accent on the second syllable. "José" and "Micaëla" are likewise sometimes mispronounced as "Ho-zay" instead of "Zho-zay" and "Mih-KAY-la" instead of "Mee-KA-ay-LA". Though to be fair, "Ho-zay" is how José's name would be pronounced in the character's native Spain.
- Don Giovanni: The title character's name is pronounced "Jo-vah-nee", not "Jee-o-vah-nee". In Italian, an "i" between a "g" and another vowel is always silent, just indicating that the "g" is soft.
- La Bohème: English speakers will often pronounce Mimì's name as "MEE-mee", with the accent on the first syllable, when it's authentic Italian/French pronunciation is "Mee-MEE", with the accent on the second syllable. Musetta's name is also mispronounced as "Myoo-setta" instead of "Moo-setta".
- Rigoletto: Gilda's name is pronounced "Jeel-da", not its common English pronunciation "Ghill-da". A "g" followed by an "i" is always soft in Italian.
- Oedipus the King: The title character's name was pronounced "oi-di-poos" in Greek, and "oi-di-pus" in Latin, and is pronounced "ee-di-pus" in British English. However, in the US, it's most commonly read as "eh-di-pus" (to the point where it was eventually accepted as an alternate pronunciation), while many laypeople in both regions mispronounce it as "oh-di-pus".
Technology
- There is some debate within the Linux community whether the operating system is pronounced "lee-nucks" or "lie-nucks". Linus Torvalds himself stated in 1992 that it's "li-nucks".
- There is some minor discourse about how NES, the abbreviation of Nintendo Entertainment System is pronounced; is it "enn-ee-ess" or "nezz"? Generally, Americans stick to the former pronounciation, while Europeans tend to stick to the latter. The name of Ness is also derived from the latter. The same applies to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, although Europeans often like to refer to it as the Super Nintendo rather than the "snezz" for short.
Toys
- BIONICLE: The franchise was developed in Denmark, written for by British and American authors, with most of its early terminology lifted from Polynesian languages, mainly Maori. As such, confusions ran amuk.
- An early draft of the 2002 Universe Bible stipulates that the last syllable is to be emphasized in all names - for instance, Toa should be "toe-AH", Turaga should be "tuh-ruh-GAH", and so on. When the bible was made public in late 2024, this info caught fans off guard because the amount of times that media and the creators actually followed this guideline can probably be counted on one hand. Needless to say, the intended pronunciation guideline was never put into effect, each contributor said the names in their own way.
- Lewa is the most common point of contention, with different media pronouncing his name as "Lee-wah", "Ley-wah", "Loo-ah" or "le-WAH" (emphasis on the 2nd syllable), and several non-English sources call him "Le-vah". The official Encyclopedia stated that "Lay-wah" is correct, even though the book's writer Greg Farshtey has kept saying "Lee-" and "Loo-" at different times.
- Onua and Onewa are often confused, hence the latter has several pronunciations like "oh-Nee-wah" or "On-ew-ah", but some sources call him "oh-New-ah", the same as Onua.
- Dume is called "Doo-may", "Doom" or "DOO-mah", the last pronunciation coming from the 2nd Direct-to-Video movie, but officially it's "doo-MAH", with the emphasis on the second half.
- Kopeke is usually called "ko-Peh-keh", following the same rule as Kopaka, though officially his name is "ko-Peek".
- Due to legal matters regarding the usage of Maori words, many names were altered but their pronunciations were mostly kept the same. This resulted in Jala becoming Jaller, but still being pronounced "Ja-lah". Many fans say the "-er" part regardless.
- Names with double vowels are often said differently. Guurahk is sometimes called "Goo-rahk" or "Ger-rahk" in official sources. Gaaki is officially "ga-Kee", but in the 3rd film, she is called "gah-Aah-ki". In the 4th film, Raanu alternates between "Raah-noo" and "ra-Noo".
- In Turtles of Grayskull, Sla'ker is the Masters of the Universe character Faker mutated with the same Ooze that created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character Slash. The confusion is that fans aren't sure if his name is pronounced with a short A like Slash or a long A like Faker.
Video Games
- Animal Crossing: Tortimer's name is supposed to be a pun on the name Mortimer, but a few people assumed it was pronounced like "tour timer". There's also the citrus-headed cat villager Tangy. While some assume it's pronounced like the word "Tangy", some argue it's "Tan-jee" like "Tangerine".
- Bow from Breath of Fire II. His name was changed from the Japanese "Bosch" into a Punny Name, but here's the problem: is the pun based on him being an archer who wields a crossbow, or is it that he's a dog person, and dogs are known to say "bow-wow"?
- Many Chrono Trigger fans outside of Japan can't seem to decide whether Ayla is pronounced like "ay-la" or "eye-la". The katakana spelling of her name makes it clearer that the former pronunciation is the correct one.
- Ayla is not the only character who's mispronounced: Marle (MAH-rhl) gets "Marley", Lucca (LU-kuh) gets "Luck-uh" and Lavos (LAH-vohs, like "lava") gets its A pronounced like in "lap". Magus doesn't even get the benefit of katakana; his Japanese name is "Ma-oh" (魔王) which is more of a general title of "Demon King", and was changed for the localization. Takes on "Magus" run the gamut through combinations of long/short A and hard/soft G. The word "magus", meaning magician and where his name is taken from, is pronounced "may-gus", however.
- Schala also has this problem. Her Japanese name is "Sara", so that's no help, and on top of not knowing if the A's in her name are long or short, it's unknown if the "Sch" is said as "sh" or with a hard K sound like the word "scholar".
- The Coffin of Andy and Leyley: There's no general consensus on how Leyley's name should be pronounced. Some say "lay-lay", which is closer to how the name is written out, while others say "lee-lee", as the name is derived from Ashley.
- Croc: there's some confusion over how to pronounce the name of the species who raised Croc: the Gobbos. Many [YouTube] reviewers pronounce it as "Gah-bos" but the narrators in the original trailers pronounce it as "Goh-bos".
- EarthBound:
- According to localizer Marcus Lindblom, Giygas' name is officially meant to be pronounced "gee-gus" (with hard g's), matching his Japanese name, Gyiyg (pronounced "geeg", again, with hard g's). However, thanks to an ad where the announcer mispronounced his name, English-language fans often assume that it's meant to be read as "guy-gas". Some fans also prefer the "guy-gas" pronunciation because they think it sounds cooler and more intimidating.
- No one can quite agree if the town of Onett is pronounced "oh-net", "on-net" "one-net" or even "wunt". Given that it's meant to be a play on the number one (coming before Twoson, Threed, and Fourside), English-speaking fans often claim that it's one of the latter two. Keep in mind that the Japanese katakana spelling for Onett is「オネット」, which is pronounced as "oh-net-to", phonetically matching the English "oh-net" pronunciation.
- Elden Ring uses multiple Old English words for names but rarely has people actually say said names out loud, leading to a lot of pronunciation confusion. The Siofra (Shee-fra) River is one such example, but the worst offender is 'Scadutree' from the DLC; the word is mentioned a lot due to the Scadutree being the resident World Tree of the Land of Shadow and the important Scadutree Fragment collectible, but it's never once mentioned in dialogue. It's actually just an Old English alternate spelling of 'Shadowtree', but few gamers have brushed up on their ancient languages enough to know it should be pronounced 'shadow' and not 'ska-doo'.
- Fatal Fury:
- From Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, there's Billy Kane. As a surname that native English speakers have long been familiar with, they'd immediately pronounce "Kane" like the English word "cane". This is further alluded by his usage of a bo staff during battle. However, SNK decided that said surname is officially pronounced much like the surname "Caan" (pronounced the same as the Mongolic title "Khan"). Billy's surname is spelt as「カーン」(pronounced as "kAHn") in Japanese katakana instead of「ケーン」(pronounced as "kEHn"), with the former being the way Japanese speakers would spell out the surname "Caan" in katakana, along with the same applying to "Kane" for the latter. Oddly enough, the pronunciation of Billy's surname is based on a pun in Japanese. It derives from the Japanese word「棍」(pronounced as "kOHn", like the English word "cone"), which means "stick" and "club" in English. As such, English speakers obviously didn't catch this Japanese pun, not helped by the fact that the standard pronunciation for "Kane" already alludes to Billy's bo staff usage just as well. Likewise, said English speakers still pronounce Billy's surname like they've always known how, even after finding out about SNK's intended pronunciation.
- Kain R. Heinlein from Garou: Mark of the Wolves. By sheer coincidence, this character's given name "Kain" was also believed to be pronounced like the English word "cane", much like the Billy Kane surname example above. This is based on the fact the aforementioned name (the same applies for "Cain") is pronounced as such in English-speaking countries. However, said name is typically pronounced as "kAYn" (rhyming with the English words "pine" and "sign") when it's brought up in Japanese media, being spelt as「カイン」in katakana. In turn, the given name of Garou's Kain is pronounced the same way. This is further proven by the way it's pronounced by the English-speaking announcer in Garou and is also heard as such in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Even though Kain's nationality is stated as "American" from which his name would typically be pronounced as "cane", it's heavily implied that he's of German lineage. "Heinlein" is a surname of German origin and "Kain" is also a given name in Germany, with it strictly being pronounced as "kAYn" in said country. All of his attacks were given German names ("Schwarze Flamme"*, "Schwarze Panzer"*, "Himmlische Seele"*, etc.), so the English localization team for City of the Wolves sticking with the "kAYn" pronunciation makes sense considering what appears to be Kain's implied lineage. Even so, there is no shortage of English-speaking fans that still prefer to pronounce his given name like "cane".
- B. Jenet, who is also from Garou. The pronunciation of her name seems straightforward, but "Jenet" in this case is officially pronounced the same as the name "Jenny". This is based on the spelling of her name in katakana, which is「B・ジェニー」, with「ジェニー」being the way one would spell out the name "Jenny" in Japanese. And this isn't a regional difference exclusive to the Japanese audience either, as the English-speaking announcers of Garou, KOF: Maximum Impact 2, and The King of Fighters XV have each pronounced it this way for all regions as well. Since the name "Jenet" as it's originally pronounced is a variation of the name "Jenette", it would typically be spelt as「ジェニット」in katakana (which converts to "Jenitto" in romaji), but B. Jenet's case is a peculiar exception which seems to invoke a Pretentious Pronunciation. As it stands, no official explanation was given about why her name in Roman letters is spelt as "Jenet" instead of "Jenny". Funny enough, a few English-speaking fans have nicknamed her "Jenny", not realizing that led them to pronounce "Jenet" the way SNK intended to begin with!
- Final Fantasy:
- For the longest time, fans could not decide on whether Chocobo creatures were pronounced "CHO-kuh-bo", "CHOCK-uh-bo" or "chuh-KO-bo". Final Fantasy X finally confirmed that it's the first one.
- The pronunciation of the weapon Zantetsuken tends to get confusion in the English-speaking fanbase. It is pronounced "zen-tets-ken", but some people think it's pronounced "zan-tet-soo-ken".
- Masamune is pronounced "MA-sa-moo-neh", but several English-speaking players mispronounce it like "Masa-myoon" or even "May-sa-myoon".
- Bahamut is pronounced "ba-ha-mutt" throughout the series, but many fans default to the Arabic pronounciation of the name instead, "ba-ha-moot".
- Final Fantasy IV:
- Many American fans assumed Cecil's name was pronounced "see-sil" (American-style) and were shocked to find out that it's really pronounced "seh-sil", British style.
- Fans thought Yang's name rhymed with "sang" until the DS remake revealed it's pronounced very similarly to the word "young".
- Final Fantasy VI:
- The town of Narshe is often pronounced "narsh" by fans, but given the Japanese version's katakana spelling, it's supposed to be "nar-shay".
- The town of Figaro is also frequently mispronounced as "fee-GAH-roe", whereas the correct pronounciation is "FEE-gah-roe", with the emphasis on the first syllable rather than the second.
- Fans are split upon the correct way to pronounce Sabin. Is it "say-bin", "sæ-bin",note "sah-bin", or "suh-bin"? The fact that his Japanese name is Mash means that there's no katakana to go off either.
- Final Fantasy VII:
- Until Crisis Core revealed that Aerith's name is pronounced "air-rith", fans commonly thought it was pronounced "erith" or "eerith" (This also applied to the original translation of her name, Aeris, which was often pronounced "eris").
- Also in VII, Tseng was presumed to be pronounced "Sing" or "Sang" before it was revealed to be pronounced "Sung" in Crisis Core. Lampshaded when Zack finds a camera stamped with Tseng's name... and has no idea whose it is because he's only ever heard the name spoken.
- The town of Nibelheim is officially pronounced "nee-ble-highm", but many fans say it like "nee-bel-highm",note "nibble-highm" or "nibble-heem" instead.
- Mako, the byproduct of the Lifestream, is often pronounced "may-ko" by fans, even though the official pronounciation is "mah-ko". The name comes from the Japanese 魔光, meaning "magic light."
- Cait Sith is pronounced "kayt-sith" in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but anyone familiar with Scottish Gaelic will pronounce it "kett-shee", as it is originally pronounced given its Gaelic origins. Because of the 27-year gap between the original game (1997) and Rebirth (2024), and the fact he uses the Gaelic pronunciation in Japanese, the Anglicized pronunciation was a Fandom-Enraging Misconception for decades before it became official.
- Final Fantasy VIII
- Is the first syllable of Seifer's name pronounced like "see," "sigh," or even "safe?" According to the Japanese katakana, it's "sigh."
- Fans flip-flop pronouncing Quistis' name as "kwis" or "kees." The Japanese writing says it's "kees."
- It is unclear if Dr. Odine's name is supposed to be pronounced "oh-DEEN", as in "marine", or "oh-DINE", as in "divine".
- Final Fantasy IX:
- Zidane is meant to be 'zid-ahn', but many a fan dubber has mistakenly had it said as 'zid-dane'.
- Quina is supposed to be 'kee-na', rather than 'kwin-uh', as it's often mistaken for.
- Final Fantasy XII:
- Fans sometimes believe the Aerieel enemy's name is pronounced "Air-ree-eel", but it's really pronounced like the word "aerial".
- Yiazmat's name is pronounced "Yaz-mat", but the way it's spelled makes fans falsely believe that it's pronounced "yeez-mat" or "yee-az-mat".
- Final Fantasy XIV:
- The large, seafaring Roegadyn race's name is pronounced as "Roo-guh-din" by NPCs, but players almost always pronounce it as "Roe-guh-din".
- Fire Emblem:
- Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade: Eliwood is meant to be pronounced "el-ee-wood" but people have argued on whether it's pronounced "el-lie-wood", "el-uh-wood" or even just "el-wood".
- Fire Emblem Heroes making many characters Suddenly Voiced has also brought to light some names with canonical pronunciations which weren't obvious to much of the fanbase, such as 'Camus' (kuh-moo) and 'Guy' (gee) being pronounced the French way.
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses uses full voice acting, but with so many names, the fans have been tripped up on a few:
- Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd is Blay-thid, not bladed. Likewise, the Leicester Alliance is pronounced Lester, undoubtedly tripping up those unfamiliar with the English city of that name.
- Mercedes is always pronounced the French way (mer-SAID-es), not like the luxury car (mer-SAY-deez).
- Also Dedue. The spelling of his name suggests various possible pronunciations such as DEH-du-eh, DEH-dyuu, DEE-dyuu, DE-doo, DEE-doo, de-DU-eh, de-DOO, de-DYU-eh, dee-DYU-eh, or deed-YU? The correct one is the counterintuitive de-DOO.
- Flight Rising: Despite the name of the Gaoler breed being an actual word, an archaic spelling of the word "jailer" to be precise, many users on the forums admit to pronouncing it "gow-ler".
- Genshin Impact: Shortly after launch, the word Primogems (the game's Premium Currency) was subject to ambiguous pronunciation because fans weren't sure whether to pronounce it as "Pry-mo-gems" (in reference to the word "primordial", given the otherwordly nature of the gems) or "Pree-mo-gems" (a play on the word "premium"). It wasn't until the version update livestreams a few months later that fans eventually learned that the latter pronunciation is the official one, but newcomers to the game (especially those who haven't watched the livestreams) still have a habit of using the former pronunciation.
- Heroes of the Storm:
- Some players mispronounce Lt. Morales like "morals" instead of "mor-al-ez", especially since it's already a Punny Name referencing her high morals as a Combat Medic.
- There's some debate over how to pronounce Qhira's name, since she's both an Original Generation character with no interactions that call her by name and is the only hero who's name is never spoken in her spotlight video. Officially, it's pronounced "keer-ah".
- According to the katakana spelling, ICO is pronounced like "ee-co", but a lot of western fans pronounce it like "eye-co".
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
- Dys is officially pronounced "diss" for "Dysthymia", otherwise, the "Who, Dys?" joke when Tang first asks you about him wouldn't work. However, some players pronounce his name as "dice" or "deez".
- Tang is officially pronounced like the brand of orange juice, but some players pronounce it like the abbreviation of her full name, Tangent — with a soft "G" instead of a hard one.
- Tammy's full name, Aspartame, is pronounced "ass-par-tame", but given that her nickname is derived from the last syllable of her name, some might think that it's pronounced "ass-par-tam" instead, or that her nickname is pronounced "tamey", which obviously isn't the case.
- Kingdom Hearts:
- The first game in the series featured the first officially voiced pronunciations of Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII and Tidus from Final Fantasy X. Fans who were unaware of Japanese phonetics at that point often thought that "YUH-fee" and "TIE-dus" were correctnote , but were shocked to hear "YOO-fee" and "Tee-dus". Despite being the first Final Fantasy installment to feature voice acting, X allows the player to rename Tidus to whatever they choose, so his name was never actually spoken.
- When Marluxia was introduced in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, which lacked proper voice acting, many a Kingdom Hearts player recalled pronouncing Marluxia as one of "Mar-lux-ee-a", "Mar-loo-ksee-a" or even "Mar-looks-ee-a". The PS2 remake, Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories, which did have voice acting, would reveal that his name is actually pronounced "Mar-LOO-sha".
- Kingdom Hearts II introduced 3 members of Organization XIII who, outside of journal entries, never have their names said in game. They are Xigbar, Demyx, and Luxord. For Xigbar, fans debated over whether it's "Zig-bar", "Sig-bar" of "Shig-bar" until Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] reveals it's the first one. For Demyx, before Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix confirmed it was "DEH-mix", some fans pronounced his name as "Dee-mix". And then there's Luxord, who went the longest without having his name said in voice acting, with many players pronouncing it as "Luck-sord". It wouldn't be until Kingdom Hearts III that the pronunciation of his name was confirmed to be "LOO-kzurd", with a long "u" sound.
- Kirby: King Dedede's name is officially meant to be read in accordance with the name for "D" in the given audience's language; in Japanese, it's pronounced "day day day", while in English, it's pronounced "dee dee dee". A number of English-language audiences, however, read it with the Japanese pronunciation even when the official reading is provided as early as Kirby's Avalanche, not to mention the Super Smash Bros. series and the English dub of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.
- Several early champions in League of Legends had names with ambiguous pronunciations, confusing not just viewers, but even developers themselves, with some of the most infamous being Shaco ("shack-oh" or "shake-oh"?)note , Veigar ("vay-gar", "vee-gar", or "vye-gar"?)note , and Xin Zhao ("shin-jao" or "zin-jao"?)note . Riot has since become much more careful when naming champions specifically to avoid this problem, where one bit of criteria when deciding names is "Is it pronounced how it looks?"
- The Legend of Zelda
- A lot of fans are confused how to pronounce the name of the various 'Blin'-type enemies, due to usually being puns on the word 'Goblin', as well as them as a whole being grouped under the official 'Blin' name. Thus, it's left ambiguous whether Moblin is pronounced 'Mob-lin' or 'Mow-blin'. And don't get us started on further pun-based names for variants, such as the Technoblins from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
- Also from Skyward Sword, fans can't agree whether Fi's name should be pronounced "Fie" or "Fee".
- There's also Sidon from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It's pronounced "sigh-don" but some pronounce it like "sea-don" or "sid-in".
- Considering the word "Live" can be pronounced two ways, some non-Japanese players think that Live A Live is pronounced "Lihv a Laiv", "Lihv a Lihv", or "Laiv a Liv". According to the katakana spelling both instances of "Live" are pronounced the same, it's pronounced "laiv a laiv". This misconception has lessened after the remake came out, with English language promotions pronouncing the title clearly.
- Lumines is correctly called "Loo-min-us", but many people pronounce it as "LOO-myns". This is referenced in Luminesweeper, whose title is a Take That! to the wrong pronunciation.
- Lunar:
- The title of the series is often pronounced like the English word "lunar" by people unfamiliar with the games (or have only played the installments without voice acting), but it's actually pronounced "Loon-are". Even some fans of the series don't bother and still pronounce it "Loon-er" anyway.
- Even though her name is clearly pronounced "Lu-she-ah" in the game's cutscenes, Lucia from Lunar: Eternal Blue frequently has her name mispronounced as "lu-see-ah" or "lu-chi-ah" by people who haven't played the game and even by a few that have.
- Laike's name is never actually said in a cutscene so nobody really knows how his name is supposed to be pronounced. Some argue it's simply pronounced like "Lake", others think it's pronounced "Lie Kay", "Lie Ka", "Lie Key", or "Like", among many other guesses. The katakana spelling being "reiku" seems to point towards the "lake" pronunciation, however.
- Max Payne features an In-Universe example, as Jack Lupino pronounces Cthulhu's name as "shuh-THOO-loo", rather than the more common "kuh-THOO-loo". To be fair, Lupino is also completely insane and high as a kite, so that might have something to do with it.
- Mega Man (Classic):
- In Mega Man 2, English-speaking fans are torn on whether the second word in Bubble Lead is pronounced "led" or "leed", even though its katakana in the Japanese version (リード "riido"）indicates the latter. Director Akira Kitamura had to settle it once and for all on Twitter, 35 years after the game's release.
- The black-and-orange rival robot introduced in Mega Man 7 is named Bass. In this context, the character's name is pronounced "base", and refers to the lowest ranges in music and aligns with the series' music-based Theme Naming convention for the main robot characters (in fact, Bass has a robot dog named Treble; the treble and bass clefs are the two most commonly used in musical notation). Mega Man 7 did not have voice acting to clarify this, so people not familiar with this naming convention would default to the literal pronunciation "bass", as in the fish. The next numbered entry in the series, which DID have voice acting, leads with a cutscene of Mega Man loudly addressing Bass by the latter pronunciation, which only confused people more and further fanned the flames of fan frustration.
- In Mega Man 2, English-speaking fans are torn on whether the second word in Bubble Lead is pronounced "led" or "leed", even though its katakana in the Japanese version (リード "riido"）indicates the latter. Director Akira Kitamura had to settle it once and for all on Twitter
- Monster Rancher:
- The Gitan species is often pronounced guy-ten by English speaking fans, but according to its katakana spelling it's actually pronounced "Ghee-tan".
- The infamous noob slayer Oakleyman from Monster Rancher 2 is usually pronounced like "oak-lee-man" by English speakers, but its katakana spelling indicates that it's meant to be pronounced "Oh-clay-man", a play on him being made out of clay the localization team didn't catch.
- The Lesione species is often pronounced like "Less-ee-own", but according to its katakana spelling it's actually pronounced "less-ee-oh-neh".
- Ninja Gaiden: The "Gaiden" part of the title is pronounced "guy den", being the Japanese word for "side-story" (外伝), but when the series first debuted in the west, audiences frequently read it as "gay den". This eventually became prominent enough for The Wizard (which featured prominent product placement for the Nintendo Entertainment System catalog) to feature a scene where a store owner teaches a group of children the proper pronunciation by jokingly using it as a kiai.
- Oddworld: The name of protagonist Abe's alien race, the Mudokon, is notorious for its confusing pronunciation. The official pronunciation of Mudokon is Moo-DOCK-Uhn but it's been incorrectly pronounced a variety of ways by fans, such as MOO-Duh-Kon, MOO-Doh-Kon, MYOO-Duh-Kon, MYOO-Doh-Kon, MOO-Duh-Kuhn, MYOO-Duh-Kuhn, MUD-Oh-Kon, MUD-Uh-Kuhn, Muh-DOH-Kon and Muh-DOH-Kuhn.
- OMORI: Mari and Basil's names are pronounced many ways by fans. OMOCAT pronounces them as "MAR-ee" and "BAY-zil" respectively, but players' pronunciations commonly include "MAYR-ee", "Muh-REE", "BA-zil," and "Ba-SEEL". Mikhael "The Maverick" is also pronounced many ways.
- Overwatch:
- Many players pronounce Brigitte's name as "bridge-et" or "breg-eet" rather than the correct "bree-GHEE-ttuh". The official Overwatch League channel released a video showing a compilation of casters and pro players mispronouncing it as well as the correct pronunciation shortly after her release.
- Likewise, Torbjörn's name is properly pronounced as "TOOR-byearn", not "TORE-byorn".
- Many players pronounce Brigitte's name as "bridge-et" or "breg-eet" rather than the correct "bree-GHEE-ttuh". The official Overwatch League channel released a video
- Rayman Origins: According to the manual, "Lums" is pronounced "looms", serving as a bit of wordplay (they're glowing creatures that provide illumination). Those who only engage with the game itself tend to assume "Lums" is pronounced "luhms".
- Back when Sega were still a relatively new company, it wasn't uncommon to hear people pronouncing their name as "SEE-ga", or slightly less commonly "SEG-a". This mostly died out when Sonic the Hedgehog 1 came out and showed that the correct pronunciation is "SAY-ga".
- Sonic the Hedgehog:
- Dr. Eggman's real name, Ivo Robotnik. His first name is officially pronounced "EE-voh", but many fans pronounce it "EYE-voh", which is what some adaptations use. The English version of one TailsTube episode uses the "EYE-voh" pronunciation, while the Japanese dub corrects it to "EE-voh".
- Sonic 3 & Knuckles: Hydrocity Zone is notorious among fans for its ambiguous pronunciation, with many debating whether "Hydrocity" is meant to be read with a long "o" (i.e. "Hydro City", aligning with its aquatic setting) or a short one (rhyming with "velocity", tying in with the Sonic games' focus on speed). Several official Japanese sources point to the former, but many non-Japanese fans stick with the latter. This was acknowledged by an official poll held by Sega, where the results were roughly split down the middle even after nearly 100,000 votes. The "velocity" pronunciation narrowly won with 50.5% of the vote.
- Splatoon 3: Acht's name is often mispronounced as "act". The character's name is meant to be pronounced /ɑxt/ like the German/Dutch word "acht" (meaning "eight"), with the "ch" as in Scottish "loch".
- Stardew Valley players have different ways to say Mr. Qi's name. Some pronounce it as "chi", "key", or "Q I". ConcernedApe has pronounced it as "qwee" during an interview, but he prefers to leave the real pronunciation up to players' interpretation.
- Street Fighter:
- Ryu. When the Street Fighter II arcade game made the franchise a cultural sensation in the early '90s, Ryu's name was often mistakenly pronounced as "Ri-yoo" with a long I sound, like "Rye bread" or "Ryan". This was exacerbated with the animated series not exactly knowing how to pronounce Japanese names and the live-action film not really caring to try. It wouldn't be until proper English dubs of the first anime adaptations and those same experienced dubbing crews adapting Street Fighter IV when Ryu's name would be normalized as "Ree-yoo". This was Played for Laughs in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in Palutena's Guidance on Ryu, where Pit gets briefly confused on how his name is pronounced.
- The original voice clip for the Hadouken wasn't all that clear, so it's often mispronounced by fans as "hah-DOO-ken", though those familiar with Japanese phonetics would realize that it's supposed to be pronounced "hah-DOH-ken".
- The Shoryuken is mispronounced so much that it's become a meme. It's supposed to be pronounced "sho-ryu-ken", but people frequently mispronounce it, from the fairly mundane "shor-yu-ken", to sillier ones like "sure you can".
- The Tatsumaki Senpukyaku is another attack that's frequently mispronounced, partly because in the older games it sounded like it had 5 syllables, resulting in parodies like, "The pipes are broken!" In reality, its name has at least 8 syllables, "ta-tsu-ma-ki sen-pu-kya-ku", although the precise number depends on how closely you want to follow Japanese pronunciation rules.
- Sagat is supposed to be pronounced "suh-GAHT", but many people pronounce it like the surname of Bob Saget.
- Blanka is supposed to be pronounced /ˈblɑːnkə/ ("BLAHN-ka") with an "a" like in "father", but some people pronounce it /ˈblænkə/ ("BLAN-ka") with an "a" like in "blanket".
- Zangief's name is often pronounced /ˈzængiːf/ ("zan-geef"), when the proper pronunciation is /ˈzɑːngiːɛf/ ("zahn-gi-eff"). Many players still say the wrong pronunciation simply because it rolls off the tongue better. Even Wreck-It Ralph pronounced it wrong.
- Rashid's name is mispronounced as /ˈrɑːʃɪd/ ("rah-shid") by many fans and even in-game. However, his name is spelled as "راشد" in Arabic and is actually pronounced /ˈrɑːʃɛd/ ("rah-shed"), with the second syllable sounding like the English word "shed". The confusion comes from the "i" in his name written in Roman letters.
- Super Mario Bros.:
- Bowser's name is sometimes mispronounced as /ˈboʊzər/ ("BOH-zer"), but the actual pronunciation is /ˈbaʊzər/ ("BOU-ser"), the first syllable rhyming with "how".
- Wario's name is officially pronounced "wah-ree-oh" across languages, rhyming with "Mario", owing to it being a portmanteau of Mario's name and the Japanese word "warui" (meaning "bad"). Despite this, many people often read it as "warr-ee-oh" (similarly to "warrior"), or "warry-oh" ("warry" rhyming with "marry").
- The Bob-omb enemy also trips up many people, as Super Mario Bros. (1993) indicates it is pronounced /bəˈbɒm/ ("buh-BOMB"), not /ˈbɒbɒm/ ("BOB-omb"), as the spelling suggests.
- Many pronounce the Lakitu enemy's name as /ˈlækiːtuː/ ("LACK-ee-too") or /ˈlækɪtuː/ ("LACK-it-oo"), but Nintendo uses the pronunciation /ləˈkiːtuː/ ("La-KEE-too").
- Bowser's second-in-command Kamek's name was generally pronounced /ˈkæmɛk/ ("KAM-ek", like camera) by fans before the Japanese and European versions of Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games revealed that it's actually pronounced /ˈkɑːmɛk/ ("KAH-Mek", like car).
- The name of the X-Nauts from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is pronounced "ecks-naut" judging by the grammar used in their Tattle messages ("It's an X-Naut"), but occasionally people will pronounce it "cross-naut". The X-Yux enemy encountered in their fortress is explicitly stated to be pronounced "cross-yucks", however.
- Naomi's name in Trauma Team is pronounced as "Nah-oh-me", which can trip up people who are more used to the more common "Nay-oh-me" pronunciation.
- Tekken: the title is actually meant to be pronounced with a double K sound (i.e. like "tech-ken" rather than "tech-en" or "tech-in").
- TinkerQuarry: Players often have trouble pronouncing Camime's name because, unlike the other characters, her name is a rather tricky Portmanteau. It's pronounced "kay-mime" (canine + mime, because she's a clown dog), but some players pronounce it like "kay-meme" or "ka-meme" (with the A being pronounced like the A in "cab.") Notably, Let's Player HawkZombie mispronounced it a few times before quickly figuring out the pun and getting it right.
- Touhou Project:
- Cirno's name is officially pronounced as "Chee-ru-no" in Japanese, but because of the way the romanized name is spelled, many western fans have a habit of pronouncing it either as "Sir-no" or "Sear-no", and the unofficial pronunciations are just as common as the official one. Given that she's an ice fairy, it's also fair to assume that "Chill-no" might be the intended Anglicized pronunciation.
- Tewi's name is pronounced "Tay", but some western fans have pronounced it like "teh-wee" or "too-wee".
- Many western Touhou fans pronounce Marisa like the western name (Marissa) when it's actually a Japanese name pronounced mah-ree-sa.
- World of Warcraft:
- Many players assume Tyrande is pronounced "tir-and". It's supposed to be "teh-ron-duh". This is especially common to anyone who never played Warcraft III, where her name is said frequently.
- Some players, particularly Horde players who never met her during leveling, think Yrel's name is said "eer-el" instead of "yuh-rel".
- Y'Shaarj is supposed to be pronounced "YAH-shah-razh", although due to the unintuitive spelling he often gets mistaken as "eh-SHAH-arj" or some variant.
- Ys is pronounced like "ease", not "wise".
Web Animation
- Disventure Camp: In the beta version of Season 1, Ellie’s name was spelled “Eli”. This led to lots of confusion about how her name was pronounced, as some viewers mistook it for being pronounced “EE-ly” (like the male name) instead of “ELL-ee”. This ultimately enforced a change in her name’s spelling when the season was remade.
- Super Mario Bros. Z: Fans frequently tended to mispronounce the reboot version of upgraded Metal Sonic, Metallix, as "meta-licks". Mark Haynes himself, upon noticing the fans mispronouncing his name, had confirmed that his name is actually meant to be pronounced akin to "metallics".
- hololive:
- The "Calliope" in Calliope Mori is often assumed to be pronounced like the instrument (Callie-ohp), but it's pronounced "kuh-lie-op-ee" like the Greek Muse. It doesn't help that her nickname is "Calli" (pronounced like the first two syllables in "California"). Japanese talents and fans tend to pronounce it as "Callie-oh-pay", which is an acceptable alternate pronunciation in that language.
- Hakos Baelz' name is officially pronounced "HEY-kos BELLZ", but it's not uncommon for those unfamiliar with her to use a different pronunciation, such as "HACK-os BAYLZ". It doesn't help that she's almost exlusively Only Known by Their Nickname, with English-speaking talents and fans calling her "Bae" (pronounced like the word "bay"), and Japanese-speaking talents and fans calling her either Hakotaro or Hakos (pronounced "Ha-ko-su" in Japanese).
- Mysta Rias of Nijisanji sometimes has his first name mispronounced like "Meesta", but it's pronounced "mista", as a pun on "Mysterious".
Webcomics
- Early on Housepets!, fans frequently mispronounced Bino's name. His name is supposed to utilize a long "I", like his older brother, Fido. But fans typically employed the short "I", like the anti-gas medication Beano. This is lampshaded and enforced in the arc "Wolf's Clothing", when Bino was being bailed out of the pound after an incident where Bino was conned into committing crimes by Jack.
Pound Clerk: Bean-o?
Bino: That's BINE—
Pound Clerk: Your bail's been paid
Bino: —oh - Sleepless Domain: Main character Undine Wells is named after the mythical water elemental, and her name is meant to be pronounced the same way — "un-DEEN". However, it's not uncommon to hear fans mispronounce her name as "un-DINE".
Western Animation
- Camp Lazlo: Scoutmaster Lumpus's name is supposed to be pronounced "Loom-pus", not "Luhm-pis". Even fans often get this wrong, as pretty much anyone who isn't Raj, Edward, or Slinkman pronounces it like "Luhm-pis".
- Hercules: The Animated Series: Trivia's name is pronounced "try-vee-uh" as opposed to "triv-ee-uh".
- Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness: Taotie's name's (which comes from one of the Four Perils) correct pronunciation is "Ta-oh-tee-eh", yet it's pronounced in the show as if it was an English word, with its last syllable being pronounced the same as Temutai's.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Fans weren't sure if Lyra's name was pronounced "leera" or "lye-ra" until "Slice of Life" confirmed that it's the latter.
- The Owl House: Some people who haven't watched the show and are unfamiliar with Spanish pronounciations will pronounce Luz's name as "Looz" or "Luzz", while the correct pronounciation is like the English words "lose" and "loose".
- The Problem Solverz: Alfe's name is two syllables, pronounced "Al-fay", and all of the characters say it that way. In writing, however, especially to those unfamiliar with the show, the pronunciation is less clear and is often mistaken for "Alfie" or "Alf".
