Gisele Bündchen's name pronunciation has often been a source of confusion, but the supermodel has a simple explanation. In a resurfaced video from her 2005 appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," Bündchen reveals how to say her name correctly, with a more pronounced "i" at the end.
Gisele Bündchen is an internationally renowned supermodel, but people apparently struggle to get her name right. A clip from her 2005 appearance on "Late Night with Conan O’Brien" has resurfaced online, where the Brazilian-born star explains how to correctly pronounce her name.
During the interview, she said she came to New York at 16 to model and spoke very little English. "It was very hard for me because I couldn’t communicate, people could not understand me. To pretend to understand, people would speak to me, and I would be like, ‘Yes! Yes!’ I didn’t even know what I was saying," she explained with a laugh.
Then she explained that her name in Portuguese is spelled as G-i-s-e-l-e but is pronounced with more of an "i" sound at the end. That would cause confusion at castings when she’d introduce herself as "Giseli," but people would read it as "Gisele."
"I would be like, ‘This is not a difficult name,’ So, I’d write it down, and they’d be like ‘Gisele,’ and I’d be like, ‘Giseli,’ so they could never say ‘Giseli,’" she said.
"So, whatever, it was Gisele in the end, I guess," she continued. "Call me whatever you feel like."
Bündchen isn’t the only star who struggles with people pronouncing her name incorrectly. Rihanna pronounces her name "Re-Anne-uh," not "Re-Ahh-na," as many learned in 2019 thanks to a British Vogue video on X (then Twitter).
Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser had to correct Adam Sandler in a 2022 Variety Actors on Actors interview when the comedian said "Frasier" by mistake.
"Frazer," the actor corrected, adding it sounds like "you shave with a razor."
Travis Kelce also revealed, with brother Jason and father Ed on their "New Heights" podcast, that their last name should actually be pronounced "Kels" not "Kel-see."
Ed said he "got tired of correcting people" at work and just let it go.
Jason asked which was the best way to go, and Ed replied, "Do whatever you want. I did."
So, there you have it. The next time you're talking about Gisele Bündchen, make sure to pronounce her name correctly!
