Steve Buscemi, Denzel Washington, Rihanna: 6 celebrity names you’ve been saying wrong

Steve Buscemi just tried to clear up how to pronounce his last name, but even he’s not 100% sure.

On “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” he discussed his cameo on the AppleTV+ series “The Studio,” where none of the characters could say his last name correctly.

Fallon noted that "At one point, they said 'Brusch-kemi,' like bruschetta.”

Buscemi admitted “I don’t like that one.”

"Boo-shemi, I like that," he said. "That is the Italian way to say it, but I just didn't grow up that way."

"Growing up, we said Bue-semi, which I can't even do that anymore," he said.

These days, he combines “boo” and “semi” and joked, "I sort of take a little bit from each pronunciation. I don't know how to say my own name.”

Buscemi isn’t the only star who’s name gives fans (and sometimes themselves) trouble.

Denzel Washington

The two-time Oscar winner also recently revealed we’ve been saying his name incorrectly for decades.

On “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Washington, born Denzel Hayes Washington Jr., revealed that his name is actually pronounced “DEN-zel” with emphasis on the first syllable, instead of the more commonly said “Den-ZELL.”

He said his mother is to blame for some of the confusion.

"I'm Denzel Jr. My father's Denzel Hayes Washington Sr. I'm Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. My mother would say Denzel, and we'd both show up. So she said, 'From now on, you're Den-ZELL.'" he shared.

Rihanna

Fans got a surprise reminder of how to say the Fenty Beauty founder’s first name thanks to a 2019 British Vogue interview.

In the clip, Rihanna pronounces her name “Ree-Anna,” instead of “Ree-Ah-na” that many people tend to say.

According to social media comments at the time, it came down to an American versus British sense of English.

"Only Americans pronounce it as rihaaaaaaana lol," one person wrote at the time.

Ariana Grande

Despite the spelling, Ariana Grande’s last name is not the same as the Starbucks cup size.

She told Beats in a 2018 interview her last name is pronounced “grand-ee” not “grand-ay.”

Paul Mescal

The Irish actor clarified that his last name doesn’t rhyme with the alcoholic drink mezcal in a 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

"People get confused with how to pronounce my name because of the drink Mezcal," he told the outlet in a video interview. "Everybody does it. I pronounce it 'Mescal' and I wonder if I launched a tequila line I would have to, I would call it 'Mescal's Mezcal.' I'm on the fence."

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan cleared up how to say her last name when she made her TikTok debut, introducing herself as Lindsay “Lo-hen” rather than “LO-han.”