Millions of us will have grown up seeing Raven-Symoné's name almost every day on TV, but the actor has now revealed that many fans have actually been pronouncing it wrong this entire time.
Raven-Symoné was a staple of the Disney Channel back in the day, with her show That's So Raven regularly popping up alongside the likes of Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.
The show came to an end in 2007, but many fans still keep up with Raven-Symoné, whose full name is Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman-Maday, on social media.
Advert
The 37-year-old now hosts a podcast and regularly posts on TikTok, and earlier this year she used the platform to drop a bombshell: throughout her years in the spotlight, the actor's name has repeatedly been mispronounced.
According to the actor, we've managed to get the 'Raven' part right - it's just like the bird.
It's the 'Symoné' where people have tripped up, as the actor revealed it's not pronounced 'Si-moan', as many people might have expected.
Instead, it's pronounced 'See-mon-ye'.
Raven-Symoné clearly knew people would struggle to believe her revelation as she played a sound in the background of her video of someone saying: "Shut up, it is not. No it's not."
Mouthing over the top, Raven-Symoné said: "Yes it is."
"Those who know…KNOW… fit was cray that day," she wrote in a caption alongside the video.
Needless to say, fans have been shocked to learn that they'd failed one of the most familiar faces from their childhood so consistently.
"Damn Rae after all these years. I feel like I totally disrespected your name," one shocked TikToker commented on Raven-Symoné's video.
"We should’ve known that strictly bc of the accent on top of the E," another commented, while a third added: "I'm gonna need another couple decades to process this information."
However, a number of confused viewers insisted that they weren't at fault for mispronouncing Raven-Symoné's name, claiming she'd pronounced it as 'Si-moan' herself when she appeared on Disney Channel.
"I mean in my defense- you were the one who taught me how to say your name," one person commented.
The actor hasn't explained why her name was left mispronounced for so many years, though in 2016 she spoke about having to try and to fit into a 'brand' while in the spotlight when she was younger.
Discussing how she didn't feel she could be honest about being gay, Raven-Symoné said: “I never thought I would come out because my personal life didn’t matter. It was only what was supposed to be sold as the Raven-Symoné brand.”
Raven-Symoné came out publicly in 2013, when she was 27 years old.
Emily Brown