Niamh and Saoirse top list of UK's most mispronounced words

Eva Osborne

Niamh and Saoirse are the top two most mispronounced words in the UK, according to a study by Unscramblerer.com.

The website analysed search data from Google Trends for 'how do you pronounce' and 'how to pronounce' to reveal the most mispronounced words in the UK.

After Niamh (124,800 searches) and Saoirse (109,200 searches) in first and second place, gyro, Edinburgh, and schedule complete the top five most mispronounced words in the UK.

The rest of the list:

6. Croissant (88,800 searches)

7. Worcestershire sauce (87,600 searches)

8. Dachshund (81,600 searches)

9. Acai (79,200 searches)

10. Charcuterie (76,800 searches)

11. Spaghetti (75,600 searches)

12. Qatar (69,600 searches)

13. Cacao (67,200 searches)

14. Niche (67,200 searches)

15. Nutella (63,600 searches)

16. Éowyn (56,400 searches)

17. Aoife (13,560 searches)

A spokesperson for Unscramblerer.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. No wonder people are searching for how to pronounce words."