Mispronouncing someone's name can sometimes be perceived as disrespect towards their identity. In fact, many names are deeply tied to cultural or familial significance, and mispronunciation can be seen as culturally insensitive.
It just so happens that many people have wrongly uttered the name of no other than R’n’B icon and groundbreaking entrepreneur, Rihanna. Luckily for those at fault, Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega has unveiled the correct way to pronounce the Barbadian businesswoman’s name.
Jenna Ortega stunned viewers when she pronounced Rihanna's name "Ree-an-nah", and not "Ree-awh-na" at the Golden Globes
Image credits: witoktv
Image credits: MaximoTV
Earlier this year at the Golden Globes, Jenna graced the stage as a presenter for the Best Song in a Motion Picture award.
Before revealing the winner, the 21-year-old actress took a moment to mention the nominees in the category, among them Rihanna, who was up with her song "Lift Me Up" from the 2022 movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Image credits: jennaortega
Jenna was subsequently captured saying: “I’m gonna get to the original song in a minute, we got artists like Taylor Swift and Rihanna competing for that award. I know, I’m very excited.”
The Scream actress pronounced the singer’s name Ree-an-nah, and not Ree-awh-na, as some previously thought.
Jenna was announcing the nominees in the Best Song in a Motion Picture award category, and Rihanna was among them for her song Lift Me Up
Image credits: jennaortega
Image credits: badgalriri
The segment, which was shared all over the internet and notably on TikTok, sparked many reactions.
"I've been pronouncing it wrong my whole life?!??" a person commented.
"Dang...so I've been saying her name wrong my whole life?!! I feel embarrassed now. I had NO idea that was how you correctly pronounce her name!" Another TikTok user wrote.
A separate individual chimed in: "Now everyone is gonna pronounce the way she said Rihanna’s name after seeing this video."
"I've been saying her name wrong my whole life?!! I feel embarrassed now," a person on social media wrote upon hearing Jenna's speech
Image credits: badgalriri
Nevertheless, confusion regarding the founder of the Fenty brand’s name is nothing new.
In fact, RiRi clarified the pronunciation of her identity once before, back in 2010 during a segment on Ellen Degeneres’ Ellen Show.
Ellen could be seen showing confusion asking the award-winning musician rather her name was pronounced “Ree-an-nah” or “Ree-awh-na”, to which the starlet replied “Ree-an-nah”.
Rihanna went on to explain that her pronunciation might’ve stemmed from her accent.
As a Barbados native, Rihanna grew up speaking the Bajan dialect, which might be the reason why her name is pronounced “Ree-an-nah”
Image credits: badgalriri
You can watch Rihanna's 2010 interview on The Ellen Show where her name is corrected
The 35-year-old artist was born in 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados.
She subsequently grew up speaking the Bajan dialect, which is a slang-influenced version of standard English, or simplified pidgin English, mixed with “Bajanisms”, unique to the island of Barbados, Totally Barbados explained.
The website also states that Barbadians speak with an accent best described as a combination of the influences of both African and British languages.
Some people were surprised to learn that Rihanna's name could be mispronounced at all
