Alysa Liu Reveals That We've All Been Pronouncing Her Name Wrong—And Fans Are Stunned

It's always jarring when you see someone in the spotlight for years, only to realize that the way you've pronounced their name has been wrong. Take Taylor Lautner, for example!

Now the same is true for Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu, whose name has been interpreted with a variety of pronunciations since she started skating professionally, with the most common being "ah-leash-ah" followed by "lou."

However, according to an interview with Newsweek, Liu has noted the various pronunciations of her name and is comfortable with it, though there is, of course, one correct way of pronouncing it.

Liu explained:

“So technically this is how my family says my name: Ah-LEE-sah Lee-oh.”

“That’s technically how you say my name, but ‘Ah-LISS-uh’ is how my friends call me, and that’s how the world calls me, and then my last name a lot of people say ‘Lee-oo,’ ‘Loo.’”

"I personally don’t care because technically the right way is ‘Lee-oh,’ but that can be hard to pronounce. And I don't expect people to know how to say that."

As the interview continued, Liu revealed that it was more important to her to connect with people.

"My goal is always to share my story and to connect with people."

"To have my experiences, turn them into a performance, and have my emotions be a part of that and get people to feel something."

You can watch the video here:

TikTokers hoped Liu would establish stronger boundaries about her name in the future.

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@newsweek/TikTok

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The video went viral on other platforms, as well, including X.

X users were equally surprised and urged Liu to have boundaries about something as important as her name.

Mispronouncing Liu's name has surely been an honest mistake by many, but we can do better if we take what we have learned and apply it.

While Liu gives the audience an out by pointing out the different ways that different people in her life pronounce her name, it's perfectly reasonable for everyone to aim for the proper pronunciation to show her the least little bit of respect.