Traditional Irish name tops the list of the most mispronounced in the world

Meaning God is gracious, it's one of the most popular boys' names in Ireland and can be spelled with a fada or in the more anglicized versions of Shawn or Shaun.

Considering its popularity, you might be surprised to find that it's the name that is the most commonly mispronounced in the world - honestly!

According to data analyzed by WordFinderX in 2023 from the pronunciation dictionary Forvo, more than one million users have sought help with how to say Sean.

Looking at the list of the top twenty we can barely believe it's even on there. Our humble Sean has beaten names like Xuxa and Xavier from the Basque country and even the traditional French moniker Guillaume.

Perhaps less surprisingly, Sean isn't the only Irish name on the list. Coming in at number 20 is the name that everyone seems to struggle with Saoirse.

The top twenty mispronounced names that made the list were:

1. Sean (Irish)
2. Xuxa (Basque)
3. Victoria (Latin)
4. Francisco (Portuguese/Spanish)
5. Plato (Greek)
6. Anna (Hebrew)
7. Estrella (Spanish)
8. Alexander (Greek)
9. Benjamin (Hebrew)
10. Michael (Hebrew)
11. Maria (Latin/Aramaic)
12. Xavier (Arabic/Basque)
13. Thomas (Aramaic)
14. Anne (English/Hebrew/French)
15. David (Hebrew)
16. Mary (Hebrew)
17. Guillaume (French)
18. Laura (Latin)
19. Juan (Spanish)
20. Saoirse (Irish)

So there you go... The simple four-letter spelling confuses the hell out of the rest of the world! But to be fair it's far from the only Irish name that has confused people over the years.

Spare a thought for Dennis Quaid when he made an absolute WRECK of Saoirse Ronan's name when reading out the nominees for a Golden Globe a few years ago.

Of course, Sean and Saoirse are far from alone. Siobhan, Liam, Maeve, and Caoimhe all cause eyes to pop as well - and Saoirse herself has even become something of a go-to for anyone struggling with their Irish pronunciation.

The full list of the most difficult Irish names as listed by the pronunciation site Forvo are:

1. Sean
2. Saoirse
3. Siobhan
4. Ryan
5. Liam
6. Eire
7. Deirdre
8. Marie
9. Kevin
10. Aisling
11. Tara
12. Aidan
13. Caitlin
14. Alan
15. Ciara
16. Niamh
17. Murphy
18. Sorcha
19. Brian
20. Maeve

* This article was originally published on Evoke.ie.