Whether you’re buying a pair of sneakers, choosing your next car, or suggesting a restaurant to your friends, the last thing you want to do is make a pronunciation mistake.
From Louis Vuitton to Hyundai, there’s no shortage of brands that can be difficult to pronounce, especially when the names don’t have English origins.
With this in mind, Solopress has analyzed how many people search for how to pronounce popular brand names using Google search volume data, to reveal the most frequently mispronounced names around the world.
So are you making these mistakes or are you pronouncing these marks correctly?
Read on for the full list, including which name surprisingly took the top spot and how you should pronounce them all.
It was revealed that ‘Nike’ is actually the most difficult brand in the world to pronounce
It was revealed that ‘Nike’ is actually the hardest brand to pronounce in the world, with a whopping 25,500 people searching Google for how to say it each month on average.
Over the years, there has been a long debate about how to say the name of the American footwear and clothing corporation.
However, the correct way to say Nike is actually ‘Nai-kee’ and it is the most commonly mispronounced brand in the world.
Philip Knight, the founder of the American brand, confirmed the extra syllable in 2014. But many people still call it ‘Nai-k’, with only one syllable.
In second place is the car manufacturer Hyundai, which accumulates 24,230 monthly searches around the world.
The South Korean brand is correctly pronounced as “Hai-un-dai.” Even with their new announcement about correct pronunciation, people are still searching for the correct way to say it.
With the automotive industry thriving in countries like South Korea, Germany, Japan and France, it’s no surprise that some brands can cause confusion around the world.
And when it comes to cars, the confusion continues as Volkswagen comes in third place with 20,100 monthly searches.
In second place is the Hyundai motor company, which accumulates a whopping 24,230 monthly searches around the world.
As motoring enthusiasts will know, the correct way to say the name of a German car is ‘Volk-swaa-gn’.
Fourth on the list is a fast food restaurant that is extremely popular in the United States and has since expanded to the United Kingdom.
Mexican barbecue Chipotle leaves 16,460 people scratching their heads each month when they try to say it out loud.
Even though “Chip-ottel” is a common mispronunciation, the correct way to say it is actually “Chuh-powt-lay.”
The word chipotle comes from the Nahuatl, a native Mexican language, word chilpoctli, which literally means smoked chili.
Rounding out the top five is French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton, a household name around the world.
From luxury bags and leather goods to shoes and perfumes, the brand, named after its founder, sells a host of designer items, but can you pronounce its name correctly?
Some 13,200 people around the world struggle to say it the right way, which is ‘Loo-ee Vuh-ton’.
Mexican barbecue Chipotle leaves 16,460 people scratching their heads each month when they try to say it out loud
Numbers six and seven on the list are related to technology: Google (Goo-gl) confuses an average of 11,380 per month, followed by Apple (A-pl) with 6,050.
In eighth place is YouTube, which is correctly pronounced “Yu-tube”: it has a lower number of searches, 2,670 people per month worldwide.
Finally, the automobile company Nissan (2,600) and the computer software multinational Adobe (2,100) complete the list in ninth and tenth place.
Nissan is pronounced “Ni-san”, while Adobe is correctly articulated as “Uh-dow-bee”.
The new research also looked at each brand category individually, from travel and hospitality to technology and entertainment.
Other notable appearances included McDonald’s (Muhk-do-nuhldz) with 1,690 searches per month, and Uber (Ooh-buh) with 1,450.
Although BMW seems simple enough, in its native German the name sounds more like ‘bay-em-vay’, prompting almost 2,000 searches for the correct pronunciation each month around the world.
How many brands have you realized you are pronouncing wrong?
Richard Kemp, the designer who runs Solopress Design, believes that strong, simple branding is paramount.
He has this advice for startups looking to name their brand:
‘A company name is often undervalued as a brand asset but, in fact, it is one of the most important.
‘Although pronunciation errors are never completely avoidable, especially considering the international market, steps can be taken to keep uncertainty to a minimum.
“Try to limit yourself to four syllables or less and make sure it’s easy to spell and satisfying to pronounce.”
Sylvia Johnson, Head of Methodology at Preply, adds: “The complexity of the pronunciation of brand names corresponds to the linguistic composition of each name.
‘Depending on your country or language of origin, it varies in unique patterns, tones, and phonetic formats.
‘Selecting a universally pronounceable brand serves as a powerful tool for global market penetration. A clear and universal pronunciation favorably positions the brand within the user community and reinforces recognition and trust.’