Demi Moore Corrects Fans on Proper Pronunciation of Her Name

Actress Demi Moore has once again addressed the correct pronunciation of her name in a viral video shared by a fan on Instagram. The 63-year-old star was seen greeting supporters on a sidewalk in New York City while signing autographs and posing for photographs. Several fans in the crowd mistakenly called out "Deh-mee" during the interaction, prompting Moore to offer a gentle correction.

"Remember, it's 'Duh-mee,'" the Landman star said with a smile to the gathered group. Throughout her decades-long career in Hollywood, Moore has repeatedly corrected this common mispronunciation of her first name. In a 1988 interview with the NBC affiliate KCRA, she clarified her preference when host Harry Martin used the more common Deh-mee version.

Martin subsequently asked the Ghost star about the origin of her unique name. Moore explained that her parents found the name and are quite fond of it. "I think they just pulled it out of a magazine or something," she added to the interviewer. She noted that people frequently get the pronunciation wrong but stated that the mix-up does not bother her.

"I have a tough time with it but it's OK," she told Martin while smiling warmly. When the host asked if she would get mad if he pronounced it incorrectly, Moore assured him that she would not. "No, no," Moore assured him, indicating her lack of anger regarding the frequent error.

Moore also discussed the pronunciation issue during a 2017 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. After Fallon pointed out that he knew many people who said "Deh-mee," Moore recalled a conversation she had with Demi Lovato regarding their different pronunciations.

"Demi and I had a great conversation about this because she's from Texas, and I'm from New Mexico, so our families say our names the same way, but we individually both pronounce it differently," the Oscar nominee explained. She noted that the distinction works better with their last names. "Like, 'Deh-mee Lovato' sounds really good. And 'Duh-mee' Moore sounds really good," she explained.

However, the conversation around Moore's preferred pronunciation resurfaces every few years when viral clips reach new audiences who missed earlier explanations. After Moore won the best actress award at the 2025 Golden Globes for her role in The Substance, the clip of her 2017 appearance was widely circulated on social media.

Fans shared their reactions over the different ways that she and Lovato pronounce their names. "Who else unknowingly pronounced both names exactly the same?" one X user wrote in response to the video. Another user added that Moore and Lovato do not pronounce their names the same way.

The debate over Moore's name pronunciation has also previously made its way into pop culture. During a 1997 episode of Seinfeld, Elaine Benes claimed a woman told her she looked like Demi Moore in Indecent Proposal. This surprised George Constanza when she used the correct pronunciation of the actress's name.

"Duh-mee? I thought it was Deh-mee," George told Jerry Seinfeld in the show. Seinfeld responded by saying, "No, I think it's Deh-mee." George asked, "Really?" before quipping, "I've never heard of a suh-mee tractor-trailer." These instances highlight how government or cultural norms regarding language can influence public perception and social interaction.