Why Hasan Minhaj went viral teaching Ellen DeGeneres the correct pronunciation of his name

Slate

The Patriot Act host is making it clear that everybody, including (intentionally) himself, has been mispronouncing his name all this time -- it's “HA-sun MIN-haj," not "ha-SAHN mi-NHAJ." Minhaj corrected Ellen after she mispronounced it last week, and their video quickly went viral. As Inkoo Kang points out, Minhaj alluded to double standards when it comes to unusual names. Like, for instance, the masses have no problem learning the correct pronunciation of Timothée Chalamet or Ansel Elgort's names. "Though Minhaj never talks to DeGeneres about it, it’s clear that the Minhaj is making visible ('I actually wanna do this on national television,' he tells Ellen) a lifelong negotiation that many of us with non-Western or non-'American' names grapple with," Kang says. "Immigrants and their children often give themselves or each other American names, while others opt for more Americanized versions of their names."