History Main / ViewerNameConfusion

** There was a whole fandom war over the name of the Sengoku Driver, which was directly translated into the Warring Driver by fansubbing group Over-Time. It was kept this way for a while and nobody complained... until the revelation that the Driver was named after a person, Ryouma Sengoku, meaning Sengoku ''shouldn't'' be translated. Over-Time chose to change the ''character'''s name to Ryouma Warring.

* When ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'' first came out, most people - including translators - started calling the anime's new summoning method "Exceed", following the pattern of the previous ones (Fusion, Ritual, Synchro). However, that turned to be JapaneseRanguage at work, and the ''real'' name of the method was "Xyz", referring to directional coordinates. Konami even made it a point to show the correct spelling in one interview. That doesn't stop some people from still using "Exceed" though.

* ''Literature/ACourtOfThornsAndRoses'': There's a bit of debate amongst readers over how to pronounce Rhysand's name. His nickname of Rhys is a real given name (Welsh in origin) pronounced the same as Reese, so some naturally assume Rhysand is pronounced "reese-and". However, others pronounce it as "rye-sand" or even "ris-and". Eventually, a pronunciation guide was released stating it's pronounced "ree-sand", though some readers still find it confusing or hard to adjust after spending years pronouncing it differently. Funnily enough, a few readers admitted they pronounced his nickname as "''reese''" but his full name as "''rye''-sand". Readers who are unfamiliar with the name Rhys were also known to say it as "rice" or "rise", adding to the confusion.

* The Platform/GameBoy. That's two separate words, yet most people spell it as a single word, either as GameBoy or, failing to capitalize the B as well, as Gameboy.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}:'' Ninetales' name is frequently and incorrectly spelled "Ninetails" by fans.

* Many people call Dave Coulier's character from ''Series/FullHouse'' "Uncle Joey." In fact, he is mostly just called "Joey" by everyone and he is not anyone's uncle. The confusion likely comes from the fact that, as Danny's best friend, he's an HonoraryUncle; meanwhile, one of the other main characters, Jesse, actually ''is'' an uncle (being the brother of Danny's late wife and thus uncle to his daughters) and is correctly called "Uncle Jesse" by his nieces. Some people misremembered who was addressed as such and the fact that both characters have names starting with J likely didn't help matters. There are in fact a few times where Danny's daughters call him "Uncle Joey" a few times in early episodes, but it didn't stick and it likely can be chalked up to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. Later on Jesse insists that his children call Joey "Uncle Joey" as a sign of respect, but he still wasn't called that nearly as much as people think.

* Many people call Dave Coulier's character from ''Series/FullHouse'' "Uncle Joey." In fact, he is just called "Joey" by everyone and he is not anyone's uncle. The confusion likely comes from the fact that, as Danny's best friend, he's an HonoraryUncle; meanwhile, one of the other main characters, Jesse, actually ''is'' an uncle (being the brother of Danny's late wife and thus uncle to his daughters) and is correctly called "Uncle Jesse" by his nieces. Some people misremembered who was addressed as such and the fact that both characters have names starting with J likely didn't help matters.

* The main character of ''Film/TheShining'' isn't named "Johnny", despite his extremely well-known line "Here's Johnny!" (taken from the film's most iconic scene) strongly implying this. His actual name is Jack Torrance, but he is frequently called "Johnny" by people who haven't seen the film. It doesn't help that not only are Jack and Johnny both derivatives of the name John, but most modern audiences [[ParodyDisplacement don't realize]] that the line is a reference to ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJohnnyCarson''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': As well as people [[IAmNotShazam assuming the family's last name is "Incredible"]], some people believe the mother's superhero name is "Mrs. Incredible" because her husband's name is Mr. Incredible. It's actually Elastigirl. She did take her husband's surname when they married, but that surname is "Parr"; she didn't adapt her superhero alias to his. One character does start to call her "Mrs. Incredible" before being cut off, but the person in question likely didn't realize she was Elastigirl due to her costume (which looked more like Mr. Incredible's old costume than hers). It doesn't help that a lot of merchandise refers to the character as "Mrs. Incredible" due to trademark issues stemming from the fact that Creator/DCComics has a character named Elasti-Girl.

** Some fans think that Harry is short for Hadrian, Percy is short for Percival, Lily is short for Lillian, and Ginny is short for Virginia. Actually, Harry, Percy, and Lily aren't nicknames, while Ginny is short for Ginevra. (Actually Harry is traditionally the nickname for Henry.)
** The second L's in the surnames of Professors Quirrell and [=McGonagall=] are often omitted.

** Chuckie's name is sometimes spelled Chucky, confusing this spelling with that of the [[DemonicDummy murderous doll]] from the ''Child's Play'' film series.

** Similarly, we have Grogu, officially "the Child" before his name was revealed, who was often colloquially referred to as "Baby Yoda" in the media, which is a bit weird because ''Yoda'' was the name of another individual of the same species, not the species itself. This would be like referring to any human infant as a "Baby Luke". Admittedly, calling him "Baby Yoda" is partially because Yoda's species's name has never been revealed in any ''Star Wars'' media. Nevertheless, even ''since'' the reveal, many people (usually not actual fans) [[InsistentTerminology still call him]] "Baby Yoda" and this nickname tends to confuse new viewers of the show, who think that Grogu really is Yoda when he was a baby, even though the show takes place several years after Yoda's death in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''.

* Many people call Dave Coulier's character from ''Series/FullHouse'' "Uncle Joey." In fact, he is just called "Joey" by everyone and he is not anyone's uncle. The confusion likely comes from the fact that, as Danny's best friend, he's an HonoraryUncle; meanwhile, one of the other main characters, Jesse, actually ''is'' an uncle (being the brother of Danny's late wife) and called "Uncle Jesse" by his nieces. Some people misremembered who was addressed as such.

** Several fans call Gendry "Gendry Waters" given that "Waters" is the surname for highborn bastards in the Crownlands, where he was born. However, the surnames are for ''acknowledged'' bastards with a highborn parent. Otherwise, like other Westerosi peasants, they have OnlyOneName. Gendry's father King Robert Baratheon never acknowledged him and, by all accounts, didn't even know that Gendry existed. Gendry certainly didn't know of his parentage until well after Robert's death. So therefore, Gendry didn't have a last name until [[spoiler:he gained Baratheon in the eighth season after being legitimized by Daenerys. (And just to add to the confusion, he states that before he was legitimized his name was Gendry Rivers, the highborn bastard surname of the Riverlands, an area with which he has no association other than the fact he joined the Brotherhood Without Banners there.) ]]

* A number of fans of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' misinterpret the film's IMDB page, crediting lead actor Creator/JohnnyDepp as playing "Rango / Lars", to mean that the protagonist's name was Lars before he took on the identity of Rango. The film's actual credits will show that Rango is billed first, while Lars, also voiced by Depp, is buried among the minor characters -- Lars is in fact the [[Film/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas Raoul Duke]]-like gentleman the nameless protagonist ''very'' briefly encounters near the film's beginning. The hero's name before he became Rango, or indeed if he even had one, is [[RiddleForTheAges a mystery with no answer]].

* A recurring gag on Creator/KathyGriffin's comedy shows and reality show ''My Life on the D-List'' is that she's so D-List she's often referred to as Kathy Griffith.

* A recurring gag on Creator/KathyGriffin's reality show ''My Life on the D-List'' is the she's so D-List she's often referred to as Kathy Griffith.

** For ten years, Elizabeth II's husband Philip technically wasn't a prince but was still often referred to as Prince Philip. He was born a prince of Greece and Denmark but renounced these titles before their marriage in 1947. His name in the interim was Philip Mountbatten, and later titled "HRH The Duke of Edinburgh" after he received the title from his father-in-law George VI. In 1957, Elizabeth made him a prince of the United Kingdom, allowing him to officially use the title "prince" before his name again. Unlike the wives of kings who automatically become queens, the husbands of queens regnant don't automatically receive any title as the royal consort, it just happened that every previous male consort was already a prince by birth.

** For ten years, Elizabeth II's husband Philip technically wasn't a prince but was still often referred to as Prince Philip. He was born a prince of Greece and Denmark but renounced his titles before their marriage in 1947. His name in the interim was Philip Mountbatten, and later "The Duke of Edinburgh" after he received the title from his father-in-law George VI. In 1957, Elizabeth made him a prince of the United Kingdom, allowing him to officially use the title "prince" before his name again.

* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', Jessica's full name isn't "Jessica Atreides"--it's just "Lady Jessica". She and Duke Leto Atreides aren't married; she's his concubine.

* [[UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales Diana, Princess of Wales]], was often incorrectly called "Princess Diana", which stemmed from her title of Princess of Wales as the wife of the Prince of Wales. This didn't allow her to precede her own given name with a princely title, as typically only princesses by birth, limited to daughters of the sovereign and selected male-line descendants, can use a princess title with their own given name.[[note]]She [[https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1133424/princess-diana-news-princess-wales-name-wrong-royal-title-kate-middleton-meghan-markle-spt could have]] gone by "Princess Charles of Wales", which admittedly didn't have a great ring to it. The monarch can confer princely titles, such as when Elizabeth styled her aunt by marriage as Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, as well as her own husband, Prince Philip, but Elizabeth never offered this to Diana, given their frosty relationship.[[/note]] Diana herself was not the source of the error -- her title before marriage was "Lady Diana", as she was the daughter of an earl, and she had no issue with simply being called that. It was more often American media which incorrectly titled her, being relatively unfamiliar with the nuances of the title "Princess of Wales" (Diana was the first person to hold the title since 1910, and the previous six holders were already princesses by birth).
* Other non-royals to marry into the British royal family (like Sarah Ferguson, Catherine Middleton, and Meghan Markle) didn't/don't have this issue because they were/are titled as duchesses. Unlike princely titles, titles like duke, duchess, earl and countess [[https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/royals/is-kate-middleton-princess-catherine-now/ never precede given names]]. However, there are cases of others being incorrectly referred to by inaccurate styles, such as "Duchess Kate" (her actual style, prior to her husband being made Prince of Wales, was Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).
* For ten years, Elizabeth II's husband Philip technically wasn't a prince but was still often referred to as Prince Philip. He was born a prince of Greece and Denmark but renounced his titles before their marriage in 1947. His name in the interim was Philip Mountbatten, and later "The Duke of Edinburgh" after he received the title from his father-in-law George VI. In 1957, Elizabeth made him a prince of the United Kingdom, allowing him to officially use the title "prince" before his name again.
* The British royal family is UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor and it's not uncommon for royals to be incorrectly referred to with the name tacked on like a last name, e.g. "Prince Charles Windsor", "Prince William Windsor". Members with royal styles and titles (His/Her Royal Highness or Majesty) technically [[OnlyOneName don't have a last name]]. If a last name is needed, it's more common to use a name derived from a title, e.g. Princes William and Harry used Wales as their last name in school and the military as the sons of the Prince of Wales. Only members without royal styles and titles use Windsor as a last name (officially Mountbatten-Windsor, though most only use the second half). Since the title of Prince is limited to male-line grandchildren of a monarch, the surname Windsor is used by more distant male-line descendants of past monarchs.

** Many characters have [[AerithAndBob discordantly normal English names]] or close to them, the latter resulting in a few examples such as fans believing Joffrey to be named Jeffrey or Geoffrey. His name is pronounced with an "awf" like "awful" (which he also is), not an "eff".

** Many characters have [[AerithAndBob discordantly normal English names]] or close to them, the latter resulting in a few examples such as fans believing Joffrey to be named Jeffrey or Geoffrey. His name is pronounced with an "awf" like "awful", not an "eff".