We’ve been saying Denzel Washington’s name wrong this whole time
Sep 4, 2025, 9:38 AM | Updated: 9:40 am
As someone with a very Italian last name that nobody can pronounce I get this to my core!
Denzel Washington’s name is actually pronounced “DEN-zuhl”. You’re supposed to emphasize the first syllable and clip the second one. He revealed that this week on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”.
It’s really not your fault, though. It was actually DEN-zuhl’s mother who started calling him den-ZEL.
That’s because he and his father were both named DEN-zuhl, and she got tired of both of them answering when she called that name. So she changed the pronunciation of her son’s name.
(Check out video here. Skip ahead to 7:36.)
So can we just blame his mom and not ourselves?
