Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe's Daughter Ava Phillippe Reveals How to Pronounce Her Last Name

Ava Phillippe has a lesson for her fans. 

The daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe decided it was finally time to let her followers know how to pronounce her famous last name, and she knew exactly the way to do it.

Ava shared a screenshot of Lena Dunham's character Hannah Horvath from the show Girls to her Instagram Oct. 7, with Hannah explaining, "By the way, it's 'Phil-a-pee.' I heard it on Extra."

The 25-year-old added a heart hands emoji into the caption, writing, "#GIRLS."

And as was to be expected, many of Ava's followers were shocked to learn the actual pronunciation, with one commenting, "I thought it was fil-eep."

One fan couldn't believe it, saying, "lol wait…this whole time?"

And another joked that they weren't about to change how they were pronouncing it, writing, "Been saying ‘Phil lip hey' since 1999. Sticking with it haha."

Of course, there were some folks who were already saying it correctly, with one adding, "The pride I feel in this confirmation that I've been right since the 90s."

Another fan quipped, "If there's one thing I know, it's that it's PHIL A PEE."

No matter how you pronounce it, there's no doubt that Ava is proud of the moniker and has used her real name as her stage name while dabbling in the industry, mostly as model and influencer. And while some have alleged that she and brother Deacon, 20, have benefitted from being "nepo babies" thanks to their last name, their dad Ryan doesn't see it that way at all.

"That's what always annoys me about this whole nepotism talk with the industry," he told Extra in March. "So many people grow up and end up doing what their parents do, to some degree or another."

The 50-year-old added, "To me, I always get offended for the children of actors and entertainers when people bring that up because, of course, that's what they've grown up around."

As for Ava, she has not waded into the "nepo baby" debate and has instead focused on her own career—and making sure people know exactly how to say her name.

Curious about other celebrity names you've likely been saying wrong all these years? Keep reading.

Travis and brother Jason Kelce debated on their New Heights podcast whether to go by "Kel-see" or "Kels," with Travis deciding to do the latter.

Speaking with E! News in February 2022, Taylor revealed the first syllable of his last name rhymes with "out" instead of being pronounced as "lot." 

After much speculation surrounding her moniker, the model set the record straight in a TikTok shared by Tory Burch, where she provided "the Polish way" to say it. She has also introduced herself by pronouncing her last name "Rat-Ah-Cow-Skee."

While Raven-Symoné's character could see the future on That's So Raven, fans likely didn't see this coming. The actress revealed in a January 2023 TikTok that her name has been mispronounced for years and is actually pronounced See-mon-ye.

After Adam Sandler accidentally mispronounced the Oscar winner's last name during a December 2022 interview for Variety's Actors on Actors series, the George of the Jungle star swung in with a trick that can help fans remember how to say the moniker correctly: Fraser rhymes with razor.

During a Q&A in October 2022, the powerhouse singer praised a fan for "perfectly" pronouncing her name as "uh-dale" when asking a question.

For her introductory video shared to TikTok in February 2022, Lindsay Lohan inadvertently set the record straight on how to correctly pronounce her last name, which is "Lo-wen."

The Clueless actress set the record straight on how to pronounce her name on TikTok. Alicia said she's not bothered if fans don't get it right, noting, "But my sweet mama didn't like it... so for her... get it right! Ali-SEE-yuh."

"My name is Kesha. Keh-sha," the singer said on TikTok. "Not Keisha. Not Ketchup. Kesha."

The Leftovers actor's uncle revealed in an interview with Apple TV+ that we've all been pronouncing "Theroux" incorrectly, including Justin himself! 

"The main character is played by Justin Theroux, my nephew," Paul Theroux explained of the actor starring in his novel's television adaptation. The novelist later poked fun at his nephew, saying, "Sometimes he calls himself Justin tha-row [laughs]. It's a French name, it's Theroux."

The pop star dropped jaws in 2018 after she explained the correct way to say her last name. When speaking about her engagement to Pete Davidson at the time, Ariana discussed whether or not she'd take his last name in an interview with Beats 1's Ebro Darden. That's when she blurted out the "gran-dee" pronunciation when describing her own last name.

The Cravings cookbook author blew everyone's mind when she shared the real way to say her last name. During an appearance on Live With Kelly and Ryan in 2018, the model admitted it was her "fault" for the mispronunciation. "It's been 25 years, I'm tired of correcting people," she expressed.

The lasso of truth! The Wonder Woman actress chatted with Jimmy Kimmel about the pronunciation (guh-dote) and the meaning of her last name, which is "Riverbank" in Hebrew. "The Gadot used to be Greenstein," she confessed of her original last name, but her parents "felt" it had more oomph.

Prepare to be mind blown. During an appearance on Conan in 2012, the actor shared the "only two places that that is pronounced correctly, my last name, is in Sweden and in Ikea." 

The star has openly discussed just how frequently people screw up his name. However, in 2011, he told The Hollywood Reporter he'd never change it because he was named after his step-grandfather, who pronounced it in the same way.

According to the legendary singer's IMDb page, her stage name is pronounced shar-day.

In 2014, the Fargo alum confirmed his last name is pronounced boo-sem-ee during a panel for Running Late with Scott Rogowsky. However, he said he doesn't "correct people" if they say boo-shh-em-me because "it's not wrong."

In 2014, the Oscar winner told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that her last name is always botched. "They screw it up," she quipped. "I almost want to make an audiotape on how to pronounce my name."

Check(mate) your pronounciation of the Queen's Gambit star, who says her name like anne-ya—and not awn-ya.

The Mean Girls alum has us all feeling like Karen because she revealed in 2012 during an interview with Hollywood Streams that the correct pronunciation of her last name is sigh-frid. Although, she admitted that her "sister says it differently" than she does.

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