Barry Keoghan explains how to pronounce his surname as people have no idea how to
Barry Keoghan is a name you're probably going to be hearing a lot over the next few years, as the world really is his oyster at the moment.
He's already got plenty of impressive entries on his filmography - having starred in Dunkirk, Chernobyl, The Banshees of Inisherin, Top Boy, Saltburn and people loved the deleted scene in The Batman where he played The Joker.
He's got a bunch of other projects in the pipeline too, including American war drama Masters of the Air.
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The 31-year-old has already picked up an Oscar nomination for his appearance in The Banshees of Inisherin, while he also picked up the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.
Already the toast of tinseltown, the Irish actor has got an incredibly bright future ahead of him.
With that in mind, it'd probably be useful to know how to say his name properly - only he's admitted that he might have been pronouncing it wrong himself.
Back in 2022, he was at Dublin Comic Con having a chat with Geek Ireland and the first question they asked was how he pronounced his surname.
"Keo-Gan. You pronounce the G. Or at least I do," the actor explained before suggesting he might be wrong himself and saying it might actually have helped his career.
"Maybe I've just been pronouncing it wrong all these years but yeah, the 'g' sound is in there.
"But I find that if you have a difficult to pronounce name, you're more likely to go far especially in the US.
"Like Saoirse Ronan and all the talk of how to pronounce her name; so maybe it's a benefit having a peculiar name."
How to say the surname 'Keoghan' is a matter of some debate and it's handy that Barry has given everyone a guide on how to say his name.
However, his pronunciation doesn't mean that every Keoghan you meet is going to say it the same way.
This issue was discussed over on Ireland's group on Reddit, where there was a robust discussion over how the surname was spoken and others admitting they'd always wondered how to say it.
While many said they 'don't pronounce the g' and that seemed to be the more popular, there were several different ways mooted across Ireland.
Various people gave answers on pronunciation including 'Kyown', 'Kyo-hin' and 'Kyo-han'.
Someone who said they did indeed pronounce the 'g' in the name and was a Keoghan themselves suggested that it 'seems to be a Dublin thing' to pronounce the 'g' as the rest of their family all did.
Either way, he pronounces it 'Keo-Gan' so that's the best version for us to go for.
Topics: Celebrity, Ireland, TV and Film, Barry Keoghan
Joe Harker