13 Brand Names That We Have Always Mispronounced, and How to Actually Say Them

Try to pronounce the following brand names: Adidas, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Hyundai, Miele, and Ferrero Rocher. Surprisingly, it turns out that we have mispronounced most of them all our life.

At CHEERY, we’ve put together 13 famous brand names that most people tend to mispronounce.

1. Adidas

How you’re probably saying it: ah-DEE-duhs

How you should be saying it: AH-dee-dahs

When pronouncing this brand name, most people tend to put the stress on the second syllable, but it turns out it should be on the first one. The company is named after its founder, Adolf Dassler, who went by Adi. The brand name is a combination of his nickname and the beginning of the surname.

2. Moschino

How you’re probably saying it: mosh-chee-no

How you should be saying it: moss-key-no

The combination of the letters “sch” can be quite confusing. Not knowing what to choose, “sh” or “ch,” we tend to pronounce both sounds together. But in reality, the name of this Italian clothing brand is pronounced like “moss-key-no.”

3. Hermès

How you’re probably saying it: her-meez

How you should be saying it: air-mez

It looks like Hermès is named after a Greek messenger god. Moreover, the brand has a chariot on the logo. However, the name clearly shows the accent over the second letter “e,” while the deity Hermes doesn’t have it. The fact is that Hermès is the name of the company’s founder, and it’s a French name. It should be pronounced like “air-mez.” The letter “H” at the beginning is silent.

4. Balenciaga

How you’re probably saying it: bal-en-chi-aga

How you should be saying it: bal-en-thi-aa-gah

When pronouncing Balenciaga, we can’t resist saying the letter “c” in the middle of the word in the Italian manner — “ch.” But the brand is Spanish, so the sound is closer to “th” or even “s.”

5. Hugo Boss

How you’re probably saying it: hyoo-go baas

How you should be saying it: hoo-go baas

The name “Hugo” is usually pronounced in the American way. But since the company is German, the brand name should be pronounced slightly differently.

6. Givenchy

How you’re probably saying it: giv-en-chee

How you should be saying it: jee-vohn-shee

Givenchy is a French brand. The “g” and “ch” sounds in its name are soft, and the “i” has a rounded sound. Besides, the combination of the letters “ch” in French is pronounced differently — like “sh.”

7. L’Occitane

How you’re probably saying it: lok-see-tane

How you should be saying it: lox-ee-tahn

This French brand name gets all kinds of incorrect mispronunciations. But according to the rules of the French language, you need to say “lox-ee-tahn.”

8. NYX

How you’re probably saying it: n-y-x

How you should be saying it: nix

The name of this popular makeup brand looks like an abbreviation of something, but it’s actually a name. The brand is named after the Greek goddess of the night, Nyx. And it should be pronounced “nix.”

9. Chevrolet

How you’re probably saying it: chev-ro-let

How you should be saying it: shev-ro-lay

Here we have the same problem with the combination of the letters “ch”, which is pronounced “sh” in French. Moreover, the letter “t” at the end is silent. You might think, “What does French have to do with it if the company is American?” The fact is that 2 of its founders were Swiss and had the French name Chevrolet.

10. Hyundai

How you’re probably saying it: hi-un-die

How you should be saying it: hun-day

When saying the name of this South Korean car brand, you are likely to add an extra vowel. But the brand, which means “modernity” in Korean, is pronounced “hun-day.”

11. Porsche

How you’re probably saying it: porsh

How you should be saying it: POR-shuh

The German car brand Porsche is probably the one that is mispronounced the most. The options vary from “porsh” to “POR-shay” or even “POR-shee.” To put the rumors to rest, the company released an official video explaining that the correct way to say it is “POR-shuh.” By the way, the name comes from a German word that means “offerings.”

12. Miele

How you’re probably saying it: mee-ell

How you should be saying it: meal-uh

You may have home appliances of this German brand in your house, so it’s no wonder that you might say the brand name in accordance with English pronunciation rules. But the right way of saying it is “meal-uh.”

13. Ferrero Rocher

How you’re probably saying it: fuh-reh-ro ro-shay

How you should be saying it: fuh-RREH-rro RO-shay

Unlike previous brands, this one is even more difficult. The name of this famous chocolate is a mixture of Italian and French.

The founder of the company, Italian businessman Michele Ferrero, named the chocolate after a grotto in the Roman Catholic shrine of Lourdes, Rocher de Massabielle. Rocher comes from French and means rock. In fact, the English pronunciation is quite close to the original but with elements of the countries of origin, such as the rolling Rs, and putting less emphasis on the first few vowels.

Do you know any other brands that are usually mispronounced? Tell us in the comments below.