Celebrities with the hardest names to pronounce

She is not yet 30 and has already been nominated for four Oscars, including for her impressive leading role in “Lady Bird.” However, her distinctly Irish first name has baffled many film fans since she first caught attention in “Atonement.”

Ejiofor’s name sounds more intimidating than it actually is. Still, it can be quite imposing at first glance. But get used to saying it, because technically he’s part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (even though he barely made a cameo appearance in the Doctor Strange sequel) and he voiced Scar in the new Lion King.

Here’s a name we’ve been debating for years. Everyone seems to pronounce “Buscemi” differently. However, the former firefighter is reportedly pretty relaxed about people pronouncing his name however they see fit, so don’t worry if you’re unsure about your personal interpretation of “Buscemi.”

You want to say “Ralph.” Of course you do. That’s understandable, because Mr. Fiennes spells his first name like Chief Wiggum’s son. But it’s actually pronounced like “Raif.” “Fiennes” is no picnic either.

Chloe isn’t the easiest first name to pronounce, but the last name is the real puzzle here. You might conclude that the “g” is silent. You could still pronounce “Sevigny” in different ways, depending on how you want to emphasize different syllables.

Spoiler alert: It’s not “Wallis” that’s tripping people up. It was impressive that the child actress got so much attention for her performance in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” Unfortunately, for us, that meant trying to pronounce her first name, which is a bit of a tongue twister. Even harder? Trying to spell it without looking it up.

Without wanting to offend anyone involved in the first two Fantastic Four films, it was a relief that Gruffudd didn’t become an even bigger star. Otherwise we’d have to struggle with how to pronounce both of his names. In his native Wales, people certainly don’t mind his nickname. If only he’d decided to anglicize his name. Then he would have been known as “John Griffith.”

Many people complain about Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland films, but they were huge box office hits and made Wasikowska a bona fide movie star. If you want to see her in a more critically acclaimed film, watch The Double. If you want to pronounce her last name correctly, brush up on your Polish.

We feel like we can pronounce Lupita Nyong’o’s name pretty well already, and we’ll have more practice in the future. She hit the jackpot with her Oscar win and now finds herself in the worlds of Star Wars and Marvel. Oh, “Us” was a box office hit. Don’t be afraid of the apostrophe. Just do it.

The name of the star of the Hangover films may be harder to spell than it is to pronounce. However, no one will have an easy time hearing the name “Galifianakis” for the first time. When he first came onto the comedy scene, many hosts probably had to ask him how to pronounce his name. As a star who spends most of his time in rural North Carolina, he was probably pretty relaxed about it.

Some know him as “Stellar Skateboard,” but that’s more of a nod to how the Swede’s acting name embarrasses people. It’s not as hard as you might think, since the name is mostly pronounced the way it looks. However, when you see it spelled correctly, you’ll see an accent over the second “a” that we rarely see here in the United States. That can definitely be scary.

There’s nothing like an oddly played “j” to cause problems for people who are simply trying to pronounce a person’s name. Plus, many of these actors can be found in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which shows how many people have appeared in those movies. Anyway, the consensus seems to be that his first name is pronounced “JAI-min.” The “D” is silent.

The burly actor’s last name has a lot of tricky letters that might confuse you. How will you handle that “G”? Is it “Nello” or “Knee-ello”? Just watch “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.” He has a big role, and he plays himself.

The Mean Girls actress’ last name is almost certainly misleading. There are many different ways to pronounce it, but do you say “SIGH-fred”? If not, you’re obviously pronouncing it wrong. It’s safe to assume that her not-so-bright character in Mean Girls had a hard time figuring that out, too.

OK, so you’re probably not in danger of doing like John Travolta and saying “Adele Dazeem.” Still, after that, how could we not include Menzel on our list of hard-to-pronounce names? Hey, it’s not easy. If you mispronounce her name, hopefully she’s willing to forget it.

Theron has been a big star for years. She has an Oscar. But no one seems to agree on how to pronounce their names. Case in point: For this article, we searched several websites that claim to explain how to pronounce celebrity names. We found three different pronunciations for Theron’s name. At least two of them have to be wrong.

This is an easy one to mess up. We’re used to the name “Jillian.” The Community star’s name could easily be pronounced “Jillian.” However, it is actually pronounced with a hard “G.” For once, your intuition is wrong.

“Ali” is a no-brainer, but that first name is intimidating. However, the guy has two Oscars now, so you better learn to pronounce it properly. It might seem a little daunting since it’s not a common first name in much of the world, but with a little practice, you can pronounce it. By the way, his full first name is apparently Mahershalalhashbaz.

It feels like Phoenix has been around so long that most people have settled on his first name. However, it could be easy to stumble over his first name if you’ve never heard of the Joker star. It’s not obvious that it starts with a “wah” sound unless you hear it pronounced first.

Hargitay’s first name is intentionally meant to mislead us! While it’s not the kind of crime that would be investigated on Law and Order: SVU, it’s annoying for pedants. Apparently, despite the missing “H” in her name, her name is pronounced “Marishka.” Who would have thought?

Don’t worry about the unusual spelling of his first name. It’s pronounced exactly like “Timothy.” To pronounce his last name, just remember that it’s French. That should help. Plus, he was in “Lady Bird” with Saoirse Ronan. That’s a difficult name combination.

She only has one name, but a lot of people get it wrong. Most people say “Zen-DIE-uh.” Apparently it’s “Zen-DAY-uh.” Anyway, Zendaya is and will always be Meechee.

Two “Z” names in a row. Let’s leave it to wordsmith David Mamet to give his daughter a tricky first name. Incidentally, she is married to an actor. His name? Evan Jonigkeit. If she had taken his last name, she could have topped the list of “difficult to pronounce names.”

What is it about Irish names that trips up so many of us Americans? Gleeson’s father, Brendan, is a good actor, as is Domhnall. One of them, however, has a much easier name to pronounce. Domhnall also has a brother named Ruairi. Thankfully, he is not famous.

TV’s Supergirl has a last name that’s unexpectedly intimidating. When you hear how to pronounce it (it rhymes with “moist”), it seems obvious. Before that, though, you get the feeling there could be several possibilities. Frankly, “Benoist” is harder to pronounce than Supergirl’s name on Krypton: Kara Zor-El.