Denzel Washington reveals that people have been mispronouncing his name throughout his career.
I would like to reintroduce myself, Denzel Washington. Despite a serious mispronunciation blunder, the Malcolm X actor recently quipped that the Cleveland Browns cornerback Denzel Ward and two other Denzels on the Arizona Cardinals were all named after him while talking about his love of football and NFL players who share his name.
During an appearance on his own late-night program on September 3, he told Jimmy Kimmel, "My name is not actually pronounced Denzel," before he spoke his name emphasizing the first syllable. “My name is pronounced Denzel.”
The 70-year-old acknowledged, though, that he finally chose to use his alias because it allowed his mother, Lennis Washginton, to distinguish him from his father, Denzel Washginton Sr.
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“My mother would say, ‘Denzel?’ and we’d both show up,” he remembered. “So, she said, ‘From now on, you’re Denzel.’ That’s how we got it pronounced Denzel.”
Naturally, the Equalizer alumnus is not the only celebrity who mispronounces their name. Although their family splits their last name into two syllables with "Kel-see," Travis and Jason Kelce recently disclosed that their last name is actually just one syllable, such as "Kels."
Additionally, their father, Ed Kelce, accepted the family name based on how other people said it even though he was aware that they were mispronouncing it.
“At work, that was my work name,” in a 2023 episode of New Heights, he mentioned the way the family pronounces their name. “Everybody at work did that so I just said, ‘Fine, screw this, I’m gonna do that.’”
Ed gave Jason and Travis the straightforward response, "Do whatever you want, that is what I did," in response to their question on how to pronounce the family name going forward.
Other celebrities, meanwhile, have been introduced under completely other names. When her given name, Emily Stone, was not available at the Screen Actors Guild, Emma Stone revealed that she changed her name professionally.
“It's sort of like when you register a business and you can't have the same name as someone else,” when she appeared on Today in 2024, she clarified. "I've been saying Emily my whole life. You can call me whatever you want. You can make up a name.”
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