If you’re buying a pair of trainers, 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 challenging to pronounce, especially when the names have non-English origins.
With this in mind, Solopress has looked into how many people are searching for how to pronounce popular brand names using Google search volume data, to reveal the most commonly mispronounced around the world.
So, are you making these mistakes or are you pronouncing these brands correctly?
Read on for the full list, including which name surprisingly made the top spot, and how you really should be pronouncing all of them.
It was revealed that ‘Nike’ is actually the hardest brand name to pronounce in the world
It was revealed that ‘Nike’ is actually the hardest brand name to pronounce in the world, with a whopping 25,500 googling how to say it every month on average.
Over the years, there has been a longstanding debate on how to say the name of the American footwear and apparel 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, a lot of people continue to call it ‘Nai-k,’ with just one syllable.
In second place is the motor company Hyundai, racking up a huge 24,230 monthly searches worldwide.
The South Korean brand name is correctly pronounced as ‘Hyun-day’. Even with its new advert on the correct pronunciation, people still continue to search for the right way to say it.
With the automotive industry thriving in countries like South Korea, Germany, Japan, and France, it’s no wonder some brand names can cause confusion across the globe.
And when it comes to cars, the confusion continues as Volkswagen is in third place with 20,100 monthly searches.
In second place is the motor company Hyundai, racking up a huge 24,230 monthly searches worldwide
As motoring fans will know, the right way to say the German automobile name is ‘Folks-vagen’.
Fourth on the list is a fast food restaurant that’s extremely popular in America and has since expanded to the UK.
Mexican grill Chipotle leaves 16,460 people scratching their heads each month when they try to say it out loud.
Despite ‘Chip-ottel’ being a common mispronunciation, the correct way to say it is actually ‘Chuh-powt-lay’.
The word chipotle stems from the Nahuatl, a native Mexican language, word chilpoctli, which literally means a smoked chili pepper.
Rounding off the top five is French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton – a household name across the globe.
From luxury bags and leather goods to shoes and perfumes, the brand, which was named after its founder, sells a host of designer goodies – but can you correctly pronounce its name?
A massive 13,200 people worldwide struggle to say it the right way, which is ‘Loo-ee Vuh-ton’.
Mexican grill Chipotle leaves 16,460 people scratching their heads each month when they try to say it out loud
Number six and seven on the list are tech-related – Google (Goo-gl) confuses 11,380 per month on average, with Apple (A-pl) closing following behind at 6,050.
YouTube is in eighth place, which is correctly pronounced ‘Yu-tube’ – it has a lower search number of 2,670 people per month globally.
Finally, motor company Nissan (2,600) and multinational computer software company Adobe (2,100) complete the list in ninth and tenth.
Nissan is pronounced ‘Ni-san,’ meanwhile, Adobe is rightly 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.
While BMW seems quite simple, in its native German, the name sounds more like ‘bay-em-vay’, causing almost 2,000 searches for the correct pronunciation each month worldwide.
How many brands have you realised you’re pronouncing wrong?
Richard Kemp, the designer heading up Solopress Design, feels that a solid, straightforward brand name is paramount.
He has this advice for start-ups looking to name their brand:
‘A company’s name is often undervalued as a brand asset but, in fact, is one of the most important.
‘Although pronunciation errors are never completely avoidable, especially when taking the international market into account, steps can be taken to keep uncertainty to a minimum.
‘Try to keep to four syllables or fewer, and make sure it is easy to spell and satisfying to say.’
Sylvia Johnson, Head of Methodology at Preply, adds ‘The complexity of brand name pronunciation corresponds to each name’s linguistic makeup.
‘Depending on its country or language of origin, it varies in patterns, tones, and unique phonetic formats.
‘Selecting a universally pronounceable brand name serves as a powerful tool for global market penetration. Clear and universal pronunciation favourably positions the brand within the community of users and reinforces recognition and trust.’