Barry Keoghan has finally settled the debate over how to pronounce your surname.
It turns out the BBC Radio 1 host who has been right all along deserves a pat on the back.
The Banshees of the Inisherin star, 33, appeared on Greg James’ Breakfast show on March 11, when the pair were linked to the ongoing public confusion surrounding the Irish actor’s last name.
James, who pronounces it “Kee-oh-gan”, revealed he regularly gets backlash from listeners who insist he’s failed.
“Every time I say it on the radio,” James said, “he people like, ‘It’s not Kee-OH-gan.’ I’m like, ‘It is!'” Keoghan was delighted and asked who exactly spread the wrong version, to which James joked it was “everyone.”
Keoghan was unequivocal about the correct pronunciation, offering a simple rule of thumb: “Until a Keoghan tells you that’s not how you say it, well, you know.”
He was equally aware that the alternative, shortening it to something closer to “Kee-gan”, simply wouldn’t do.
“No, Kee-gan is wrong. Sounds like an infection,” he joked.
As for how James himself remembers the correct pronunciation, he offered a rather memorable and very grown-up explanation involving the famous full-frontal scene at the end of Salt combustion.
Keoghan has previously suggested that his difficult surname may have actually been an asset.
“I think if you have a hard-to-pronounce name, you’re more likely to go far, especially in the US,” he shared. Nerd Ireland in 2022 and pointed to Saoirse Ronan as another example.
“So maybe it’s an advantage to have a peculiar name.”
