You’ve Been Pronouncing Travis Kelce’s Name Wrong This Whole Time

Are We MISPRONOUNCING Travis Kelce’s Name?

We’ve all been fumbling the ball when it comes to saying Travis Kelce’s name.

NFL defensive tackle Chris Jones brought up an important fact about his Kansas City Chiefs teammate—who, you may have heard, is dating Taylor Swift—while on the sidelines of their game against the Miami Dolphins on Jan. 13. 

Jones turned to two other Chiefs players during the Saturday night game and said, “So y’all know it’s not even Travis Kel-see?” as seen in the Inside the NFL clip.

One of those players, in fact, did not know, asking, “What is it?”

“It’s Travis Kels,” Jones responded. “F–king crazy, right?”

Jones’ fun fact was corroborated last year on an episode of Travis’ New Heights podcast. At the time, Travis’ brother and co-host, Jason Kelce, confronted their dad, Ed Kelce, about never correcting anyone—including his own family—on how to properly pronounce their last name as “Kels.” 

“Why in the world did you change your name out of nowhere and now we are Kel-see?” Jason asked. “Why did we think that our name was Kel-see for the first 24 years… 27 years of my life, 25 of Trav’s.”

Ed denied intentionally changing their last name, explaining he only switched it because he “got tired of correcting people.”

“That’s a good reason to stop,” the Philadelphia Eagles player joked. “That’s as good as I’ve heard. So you changed your entire family’s name over generations because you were tired of correcting people.” 

Michael Owens/Getty Images

Thankfully, Ed didn’t change his tune on whether people should call them the “Kels” family from now on.

“Do whatever you want,” he urged. “I did.”

Worried you’re saying other celebrities’ names wrong? Keep reading for more oft-mispronounced monikers.

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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.

Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

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.” 

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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.”

TikTok

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.

Taylor Hill/WireImage

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.

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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.

Twitter

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.”

Jon Kopaloff/WireImage

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.”

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Kesha (Pronounced: Keh-Sha)

“My name is Kesha. Keh-sha,” the singer said on TikTok. “Not Keisha. Not Ketchup. Kesha.”

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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.”

Amy Sussman/Getty Images

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.

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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.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Gucci Fragrance

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.

Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

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.” 

Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty Images

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.

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Sade Adu (Pronounced Shar-Day)

According to the legendary singer’s IMDb page, her stage name is pronounced shar-day.

Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

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.”

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

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.”

Julien De Rosa/AFP via Getty Images

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.

Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images

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.

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