Two classic Irish girls' names, as well as the name of one hugely popular Irish musician, are among the most mispronounced words in the US, according to a new study.
Saoirse is the ninth most mispronounced word in the US, while Aoife is 13th, a new study from Unscrambler.com says.
Meanwhile, Hozier, the stage name of Irish singer-songwriter Andrew Hozier Byrne, is the most mispronounced word in the US state of Iowa.
Overall, Worcestershire sauce, gyro, and Dachshund were the most mispronounced words in the US in 2026.
Explaining its methodology behind the rankings, Unscrambler.com said it used Google Trends to discover the most mispronounced words by searching for "how do you pronounce," "pronunciation of," and "how to pronounce." It also used Ahrefs to see how many variations of pronunciation searches like "dachshund pronunciation" or "how do you pronounce gyro." Unscrambler.com said it added up 110 search variations of top pronunciation searches.
Between January 1 and October 20 in the US this year, the Irish name Saoirse was searched for 181,000 times, while Aoife was searched for 169,200 times. Aoife was also the most mispronounced word in the US state of Arkansas.
Saoirse
Meaning "freedom" or "liberty," the Irish name Saoirse has strong patriotic overtones.
In Ireland, Saoirse was ranked the 17th most popular name for girls born in 2025, while Saoírse - with the fada - was ranked 413rd.
In the US, Saoirse first appeared in the top 1000 names given to newborn girls in 2016, when it was ranked 970th. The name peaked in 2020 when it was ranked 735th, and last appeared in the top 1000 names in 2023, when it was ranked 959th.
Indeed, there are varying pronunciations of the Irish name, with Foras na Gaeilge's online dictionary showing how it can change based on regional dialect.
Notably, Irish American Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan has helped bring the Irish name into the mainstream, though she's fully aware the pronunciation of her name can be tricky:
Aoife
The Irish name Aoife means beautiful, radiant, or joyful, and likely derives from the Gaelic word ‘aoibh’ meaning ‘beauty’ or ‘pleasure.’ In Irish mythology, Aoife is known as the world's greatest woman warrior. She gave birth to the mythological hero Cuchulainn’s only son, Connla, and was the daughter of a king of Connacht. Legend has it that St. Patrick himself arranged her marriage.
In 2025, Aoife was ranked the 34th most popular name for girls born in Ireland. The name has yet to be ranked among the top 1000 most popular names given to girls born in the US.
Unlike Saoirse, the pronunciation of the Irish name Aoife is more uniform.
Hozier
In 2019, the Irish musician sounded off on how to pronounce his name, telling PopCulture.com: “Okay, the easiest way to pronounce it, I suppose, is think of: It rhymes with cozier, or it rhymes with nosier. So it’s just 'Hozier.'"
He added: "I get a lot of like, ‘Hose-e-ays,’ which is fine because it is originally a French name. So that makes sense. And ‘Hoser,’ not quite. ‘Hoosier;’ Look, it is what it is.”
Hozier has admitted the roots of his name are a bit complicated, telling Hot Press in 2014: “I thought it was of French descent, a Huguenot name or something like that.
"It’s on my mum’s mum’s side. It’s a long story because my mum promised her mother that she would put the name back in – because my grandmother was supposedly related to or came from a line of Hoziers. The name was changed or something like that. I don’t know all the ins and outs of the story.”
Hozier, real name Andrew Hozier-Byrne, pictured here in 2024. (Getty Images)
Mispronounced words in the US
"Our research about the most searched-for mispronunciations gives an interesting insight into American culture," Unscrambler.com said.
"Exposure to new words through media, music, pop culture and social platforms drives curiosity. People often look up pronunciations if there is a gap between how a word or name is spelled and how it sounds.
"English language is particularly irregular in this regard ('Colonel' and 'Wednesday' defy phonetic expectations). English spelling only matches pronunciation about 75% of the time (University of Oxford research). A Cambridge University linguistics survey found that over 60% of English speakers admit they regularly mispronounce at least one common word.
"Correct pronunciation is closely tied to perceived intelligence and competence. The desire for correct pronunciation is a mix of avoiding social embarrassment and simple curiosity.
"There are over 40 regional accents across America. No wonder people are searching for how to pronounce words."
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