India-born American comedian Hasan Minhaj recently appeared on Ellen DeGeneres’s talk show and spoke about the struggle he faces with having people pronounce his name correctly.
On the show, Minhaj said that he often finds people mispronouncing his name, using versions like “Haseen Minaja, Hussein”, but not Hasan Minhaj. He also said that he wanted to explain to people on national television how to say his name correctly, because his parents were in the studio audience and that was a big deal for him.
DeGeneres shared similar experiences, saying people would never get her second name right, but they learned over time. Minhaj also recalled that he was advised to change his name when he started doing comedy, but refused.
DeGeneres, curious about what Minhaj is called at Starbucks, put the question to him, to which he replied, “At Starbucks I just go by Timothée Chalamet. And they usually do it right!”
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