Kirsten Dunst is well aware of the power of a name.
But even still, the Bring It On star isn’t bothered when people mispronounce hers—something they’ve apparently been doing for years.
“I mean, everyone messes up my name, so I give up,” Kirsten shared with Town & Country in an Aug. 20 TikTok. “I don’t care.”
The 43-year-old confessed that she’ll answer to anything from criss-ten to ker-stin to keer-sten—with the latter being how she actually pronounces it.
“I don’t blame people,” she explained. “Like in England, they don’t really say my name right.”
But it’s not just those in the United Kingdom who have issues with the pronunciation.
“The last set, everyone was saying my name wrong,” the Power of the Dog star recalled. “There was like Swedish people and people from Hungary. You just give up.”
But she clarified the one and only way to correctly say her name is “Keer-sten.”
“But again, who cares?” she quipped. “It’s fine.”
Besides, the Oscar nominee—who shares kidsEnnis, 7, and James, 4, with husband Jesse Plemons—was preoccupied with more important concerns while on set, namely taking care ofher son James when he got sick while she was filming The Entertainment System Is Down in Budapest earlier this year.
She and Jesse had originally planned for the whole family to stay in Hungary for the shoot, but told Town & Country it took an “extremely frightening” turn when James suddenly fell ill, which meant Jesse and the boys came back to Los Angeles.
While she did not share details of James’ diagnosis, she did confirm that “everyone is fine now,” and that they will soon be spending time together in the Bahamas after he requested a trip “to a beach where my sandcastle won’t wash away.”
Though James and Ennis don’t have to worry about calling Kirsten anything other than mom, keep reading for more celebrity names you’re probably saying wrong.
Kirsten Dunst (Pronounced: Keer-Sten)
The Spider-Man actress told Town & Country in August 2025 that people usually call her “kerr-sten” or “criss-ten.”
However, the correct way to say her name is “keer-sten.”
“I don’t blame people,” she said. “You just give up.”
Denzel Washington (Pronounced: Den-Zel)
While the Equalizer star admitted it was his mother Lennis Washington who evoked the change due to he and his father having the same name, he confirmed fans have been saying his name wrong in 2025.
“My name is not actually pronounced Denzel,” he told Jimmy Kimmel during an appearance on his eponymous late night show at the time, before going on to pronounce his name with emphasis on the first syllable. “My name is pronounced Denzel.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
Adele (Pronounced: Uh-Dale)
During a Q&A in October 2022, the powerhouse singer praised a fan for “perfectly” pronouncing her name as “uh-dale” when asking a question.
Lindsay Lohan (Pronounced: Lo-Wen)
For her introductory video shared to TikTok in February 2022, Lindsay Lohan inadvertently set the record straight on how to correctly pronounce her last name, which is “Lo-wen.”
Alicia Silverstone (Pronounced: Uh-Lee-See-Uh)
The Clueless actress set the record straight on how to pronounce her name on TikTok. Alicia said she’s not bothered if fans don’t get it right, noting, “But my sweet mama didn’t like it… so for her… get it right! Ali-SEE-yuh.”
Kesha (Pronounced: Keh-Sha)
“My name is Kesha. Keh-sha,” the singer said on TikTok. “Not Keisha. Not Ketchup. Kesha.”
Justin Theroux (Pronounced: Tha-Roo)
The Leftovers actor’s uncle revealed in an interview with Apple TV+ that we’ve all been pronouncing “Theroux” incorrectly, including Justin himself!
“The main character is played by Justin Theroux, my nephew,” Paul Theroux explained of the actor starring in his novel’s television adaptation. The novelist later poked fun at his nephew, saying, “Sometimes he calls himself Justin tha-row [laughs]. It’s a French name, it’s Theroux.”
Ariana Grande (Pronounced: Gran-Dee)
The pop star dropped jaws in 2018 after she explained the correct way to say her last name. When speaking about her engagement to Pete Davidson at the time, Ariana discussed whether or not she’d take his last name in an interview with Beats 1’s Ebro Darden. That’s when she blurted out the “gran-dee” pronunciation when describing her own last name.
Chrissy Teigen (Pronounced: Tie-Ghen)
The Cravings cookbook author blew everyone’s mind when she shared the real way to say her last name. During an appearance on Live With Kelly and Ryan in 2018, the model admitted it was her “fault” for the mispronunciation. “It’s been 25 years, I’m tired of correcting people,” she expressed.
Gal Gadot (Pronounced: Guh-Dote)
The lasso of truth! The Wonder Woman actress chatted with Jimmy Kimmel about the pronunciation (guh-dote) and the meaning of her last name, which is “Riverbank” in Hebrew. “The Gadot used to be Greenstein,” she confessed of her original last name, but her parents “felt” it had more oomph.
Jake Gyllenhaal (Pronounced: Yee-Len-Hey-Lo)
Prepare to be mind blown. During an appearance on Conan in 2012, the actor shared the “only two places that that is pronounced correctly, my last name, is in Sweden and in Ikea.”
Ralph Fiennes (Pronounced: Ray-F Fines)
The star has openly discussed just how frequently people screw up his name. However, in 2011, he told The Hollywood Reporter he’d never change it because he was named after his step-grandfather, who pronounced it in the same way.
Sade Adu (Pronounced Shar-Day)
According to the legendary singer’s IMDb page, her stage name is pronounced shar-day.
Steve Buscemi (Pronounced: Boo-Sem-Ee)
In 2014, the Fargo alum confirmed his last name is pronounced boo-sem-ee during a panel for Running Late with Scott Rogowsky. However, he said he doesn’t “correct people” if they say boo-shh-em-me because “it’s not wrong.”
Charlize Theron (Pronounced: There-In)
In 2014, the Oscar winner told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that her last name is always botched. “They screw it up,” she quipped. “I almost want to make an audiotape on how to pronounce my name.”
Anya Taylor Joy (Pronounced: Anne-Ya)
Check(mate) your pronounciation of the Queen’s Gambit star, who says her name like anne-ya—and not awn-ya.
Amanda Seyfried (Pronounced: Sigh-Frid)
The Mean Girls alum has us all feeling like Karen because she revealed in 2012 during an interview with Hollywood Streams that the correct pronunciation of her last name is sigh-frid. Although, she admitted that her “sister says it differently” than she does.
