Difficult to Pronounce Celebrity Names
by dan_dassow | created - 09 Jan 2014 | updated - 22 Jan 2014 | PublicThe 86th Annual Academy Awards will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2nd, 2014. According to Hollywood.com, the names of these celebrities are difficult to pronounce. If you were an announcer, which name would you most dread reading out loud fearing that you may mispronounce it?
You may discuss the poll here.
1. Quvenzhané Wallis
Actress | Beasts of the Southern Wild
Wallis was born in Houma, Louisiana, to Qulyndreia (Jackson) Wallis, a teacher, and Venjie Wallis, Sr., a truck driver. She has one sister, Qunyquekya, and two brothers, Vejon and Venjie, Jr. "Quven", the first part of her name, combines the first syllables of her parents' first names. Wallis, at ...
PRONUNCIATION: Kwuh-VEN-jah-nay Wall-iss
2. Saoirse Ronan
Actress | Hanna
Saoirse Una Ronan was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, to Irish parents, Monica Ronan (née Brennan) and Paul Ronan, an actor. When Saoirse was three, the family moved back to Dublin, Ireland. Saoirse grew up in Dublin and briefly in Co. Carlow before moving back to Dublin ...
PRONUNCIATION: SEER-sha Ro-nan
3. Amanda Seyfried
Actress | Les Misérables
Amanda Seyfried was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to Ann (Sander), an occupational therapist, and Jack Seyfried, a pharmacist. She is of German, and some English and Scottish, ancestry. She began modeling when she was eleven, and acted in high school productions as well as taking ...
PRONUNCIATION: Uh-MAN-duh SIGH-fred
4. Charlie Hunnam
Actor | Sons of Anarchy
Charles Matthew Hunnam was born on April 10, 1980 in Newcastle, England, to Jane (Bell), a business owner, and William Hunnam, a scrap metal merchant. At 18 years of age, he made a guest appearance in popular TV series Byker Grove (1989).
He gained fame in Britain thanks to his television role as ...
PRONUNCIATION: CHAR-lee HUH-nuhm
5. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Actor | Game of Thrones
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor, producer and screenwriter. He graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre in Copenhagen in 1993. Coster-Waldau's breakthrough performance in Denmark was his role in the film Nightwatch (1994). Since then he has appeared in ...
PRONUNCIATION: Nee-ko-LY COS-ter Wall-DOW
6. Charlize Theron
Producer | Monster
Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a city in the greater Johannesburg area, in South Africa, the only child of Gerda Theron (née Maritz) and Charles Theron. She was raised on a farm outside the city. Theron is of Afrikaner (Dutch, with some French Huguenot and German) descent, and Afrikaner ...
PRONUNCIATION: Shar-LEES THAIR-en
7. Chiwetel Ejiofor
Actor | 12 Years a Slave
English actor, writer and director Chiwetel Ejiofor is renowned for his portrayal of Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave (2013), for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. He is also known for playing Okwe in Dirty Pretty Things...
PRONUNCIATION: CHOO-ih-tell EDGE-ee-oh-for
8. Chloë Sevigny
Actress | Boys Don't Cry
Known in the mid to late nineties for her status as a fashion impresario and "it girl," with over two dozen art house films to her credit, Chloë Sevigny also stands out as one of the most prominent queens of independent cinema.
Originally hailing from Darien, Connecticut, Sevigny attributes weekend ...
PRONUNCIATION: KLO-ee SEV-uh-nee
9. Ralph Fiennes
Actor | The Grand Budapest Hotel
Actor Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Suffolk, England, to Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark Fiennes, a photographer. He is the eldest of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus ...
PRONUNCIATION: Rayf Fynz
10. Martin Scorsese
Director | Taxi Driver
Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...
PRONUNCIATION: MAR-tin skor-SEH-see
11. Demi Moore
Actress | G.I. Jane
Demi Moore was born 1962 in Roswell, New Mexico. Her father Charles Harmon left her mother Virginia King before Demi was born. Her stepfather Danny Guynes didn't add much stability to her life either. He frequently changed jobs and made the family move a total of 40 times. The parents kept on ...
PRONUNCIATION: Duh-mee Mor
12. Famke Janssen
Actress | X-Men: The Last Stand
Famke Janssen was born November 5, 1964, in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, and has two other siblings. Moving to America in the 1980s, she modeled for Chanel in New York. Later, taking a break from modeling, she attended Columbia University, majoring in literature.
This model-turned-actress broke into...
PRONUNCIATION: FOM-kuh Yans-Sen
13. Gabourey Sidibe
Actress | Precious
Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe, the star of Precious (2009), was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Alice Tan Ridley, is a former special education teacher who gave up her career and became a street performer/singer, while her father, Ibnou Sidibe, is a cab driver....
PRONUNCIATION: GAB-or-ay SIH-dih-bay
(AKA Gotye) - PRONUNCIATION: Go-tee-YAY
15. Ioan Gruffudd
Actor | Fantastic Four
Ioan Gruffudd was born on October 6, 1973 in Cardiff, Wales, UK to educators Gillian (James) and Peter Gruffudd. He has a brother, Alun, who is two years younger and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years younger. He got his start at age 13 in the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm (1974). He attended the ...
PRONUNCIATION: YO-an GRIH-fith
16. Joaquin Phoenix
Actor | Her
Joaquin Phoenix was born Joaquin Rafael Bottom in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Arlyn (Dunetz) and John Bottom, and is the middle child in a brood of five. His parents, from the continental United States, were then serving as Children of God missionaries. His mother is from a Jewish family from New ...
PRONUNCIATION: Wah-KEEN FEE-niks
17. Julianne Hough
Actress | Rock of Ages
A true triple-threat, Emmy Award-winner Julianne Hough is known to audiences around the world for her success in the worlds of film, television and music. She became a household name virtually overnight as a two-time professional champion on ABC's top-rated "Dancing With the Stars," before making a...
PRONUNCIATION: Joo-lee-an Huff
18. Matthew McConaughey
Actor | Dallas Buyers Club
American actor and producer Matthew David McConaughey was born in Uvalde, Texas. His mother, Mary Kathleen (McCabe), is a substitute school teacher originally from New Jersey. His father, James Donald McConaughey, was a Mississippi-born gas station owner who ran an oil pipe supply business. He is ...
PRONUNCIATION: MATH-yoo Mih-KAH-nuh-hay
19. Mia Wasikowska
Actress | Stoker
Mia is an Australian actress, born and raised in the country's capital, Canberra. She is the daughter of photographers Marzena Wasikowska and John Reid. Her mother is Polish and her father is an Australian of British ancestry. She has an older sister, Jess, and a younger brother, Kai. At age eight,...
PRONUNCIATION: MEE-uh VAH-shee-KOF-ska
20. Milla Jovovich
Actress | Resident Evil: Afterlife
Milla Jovovich is an Ukrainian-born actress, supermodel, fashion designer, singer and public figure, who was on the cover of more than a hundred magazines, and starred in such films as The Fifth Element (1997), Ultraviolet (2006), and the Resident Evil (2002) franchise.
Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich ...
PRONUNCIATION: MEE-lah YOH-ve-vich
21. Phil Keoghan
Producer | The Amazing Race
Phil has also written a book called 'No Opportunity Wasted' and produced a TV show with the same title.
The NOW philosophy is about making the most out of each moment and living each days as if it were your last.
Phil has also launched his own energy bar called NOW Energy Bar. It comes in three ...
PRONUNCIATION: Fill KOH-gahn
22. Rachel Weisz
Actress | The Constant Gardener
Rachel Hannah Weisz was born on 7 March, 1970, in London, U.K., to Edith Ruth (Teich), a psychoanalyst, and George Weisz, an inventor. Her parents both came to England around 1938. Her father is a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and her mother, from Vienna, was of Italian and Austrian Jewish heritage. ...
PRONUNCIATION: RAY-chull Vice
23. Sade
Soundtrack | True Lies
Sade was born on January 16, 1959 in Ibadan, Nigeria as Helen Folasade Adu. She was previously married to Carlos Scola.
PRONUNCIATION: shar-DAY
24. Shia LaBeouf
Actor | Honey Boy
Shia Saide LaBeouf was born in Los Angeles, California, to Shayna (Saide) and Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf, and is an only child. His mother is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family, while his father has Cajun (French) ancestry. His parents are divorced. He started his career by doing stand-up comedy around ...
PRONUNCIATION: SHY-uh Luh-BUHF
25. Zach Galifianakis
Actor | The Hangover
Zach Galifianakis was born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Mary Frances (Cashion), who owned a community arts center, and Harry Galifianakis, a heating oil vendor. His father is of Greek descent and his mother is of mostly English and Scottish ancestry. Zach moved to New York City after failing ...
PRONUNCIATION: Zak GAL-i-fe-nak-iss
26. Goran Visnjic
Actor | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Goran Visnjic is a Croatian American actor and producer, born in Sibenik, Croatia. He is married to Eva Visnjic (formerly Ivana Vrdoljak) with whom has three children. From an early age Visnjic started appearing in various theater plays. At the age of 16, he had his screen debut in the film Braca ...
PRONUNCIATION (according to Wikipedia): GO-ran VISH-nyich
27. Siobhan Fallon Hogan
Actress | Men in Black
Siobhan Fallon Hogan has been seen in several blockbusters over the past twenty five years. Her many film and television credits include "Men In Black," "Forrest Gump," "SNL," "Seinfeld, "New In Town," and "Wayward Pines." She has done several foreign films including three with Denmark's Lars Von ...
PRONUNCIATION: shi-VAUN FAL-lon
28. Sinéad O'Connor
Soundtrack | In the Name of the Father
Sinéad O'Connor was born on December 8, 1966 in Dublin, Ireland as Sinéad Marie-Bernadette O'Connor. She has been married to Barry Herridge since December 8, 2011. She was previously married to Steve Cooney, Nicholas Sommerlad and John Reynolds.
PRONUNCIATION: shih-NAID o-KAH-nur
29. Adèle Exarchopoulos
Actress | La vie d'Adèle
Adèle Exarchopoulos is a French actress with partially Greek roots (her grandfather was Greek). She was born in Paris, France. Her mother, Marina (Niquet), is a nurse, and her father, Didier Exarchopoulos, is a guitarist. At the age of 9 she started acting and watching movies. As she said on the ...
PRONUNCIATION: Uh-DELL Ex-ar-KHOO-puh-lus
30. Stellan Skarsgård
Actor | Good Will Hunting
Stellan Skarsgård was born in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden, to Gudrun (Larsson) and Jan Skarsgård. He became a star in his teens through the title role in the TV-series Bombi Bitt och jag (1968). Between the years 1972-88 he was employed at The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, where...
and Alexander Skarsgård - PRONUNCIATION: Stell-an and Al-ex-an-der Skars-gord
31. Peter Sarsgaard
Actor | Shattered Glass
Peter Sarsgaard was born at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, to Judy Lea (Reinhardt) and John Dale Sarsgaard, an engineer who worked for the Air Force and later Monsanto and IBM. He is a graduate of St. Louis' Washington University, where he majored in history and literature. He was a co-founder of ...
PRONUNCIATION: Pe-ter Sars-gard
32. Zeljko Ivanek
Actor | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Zeljko Ivanek was born on August 15, 1957 in Ljubljana, Slovenia as Zeljko Simic-Ivanek. He is an actor, known for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Argo (2012) and Seven Psychopaths (2012).
PRONUNCIATION: ZHEL-ko ee-VAH-nik
33. Djimon Hounsou
Actor | Blood Diamond
Djimon Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Benin, in west Africa, to Albertine and Pierre Hounsou, a cook. He moved to Lyon, France, when he was thirteen. Hounsou has graced the catwalks of Paris and London as a popular male model. He has since left his modeling career and has worked on Gladiator (2000) ...
PRONUNCIATION: JEE-mahn hahn-SOO
34. Joe Manganiello
Actor | Stano
Joe Manganiello is an American actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Susan (Brachanow) and Charles John Manganiello, and has a younger brother, Nicholas. His father is of Italian descent and his mother has German/Austrian/Croatian and Armenian ancestry. Joe was raised in Mount Lebanon ...
PRONUNCIATION: Joe MANG-gə-NEL-oh
35. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Actor | Lost
Born and raised in London, England, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje began his career as a model in Milan. He graduated with a masters degree in Law from London's prestigious Kings College, before moving to Los Angeles to make the transition to acting. Fluent in several languages, including English, ...
PRONUNCIATION: ad-ih-WALL-ay ack-in-NOY-yay ahg-BAH-zhay
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