{"id":4547,"date":"2026-03-13T19:43:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/saints-player-travis-etienne-jr-explains-how-to-pronounce-name\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T19:43:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:43:47","slug":"saints-player-travis-etienne-jr-explains-how-to-pronounce-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/saints-player-travis-etienne-jr-explains-how-to-pronounce-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Get It Right! New Orleans Saints Baller Travis Etienne Jr. Explains How To Pronounce His Name, Why Isn\u2019t Pronunciation Of Black Names Prioritized?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Jacksonville
Source: Brooke Sutton \/ Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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When the Travis Etienne Jr. signed his new contract with the New Orleans Saints, most people assumed the biggest story would be football. Instead, the internet discovered something far more relatable to many Black folks: we (and his former coaches) have apparently been saying this man\u2019s last name wrong for years.<\/p>\n

\"AFC
Source: Mike Carlson \/ Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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At his introductory press conference, the running back decided it was time to set the record straight. The last name everyone has been pronouncing like the letters \u201cE-T-N\u201d isn\u2019t actually supposed to sound like that. Etienne explained that growing up in Louisiana, the name had a Creole<\/a> pronunciation closer to \u201cAy-chan.\u201d In fact, he admitted he spent a long time correcting people before eventually giving up and letting the easier pronunciation slide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cGrowing up, it was Travis Achane\u2026 that\u2019s how you always say it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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And there it is\u2014the familiar moment when someone with a unique name<\/a> reaches the point where they\u2019re tired of correcting people and just surrender. Many Black people know that exact moment. It\u2019s the moment when you realize you\u2019ve explained your name 437 times and the room still looks at you like you just handed them a trigonometry equation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Because the burden is real.<\/p>\n

Every classroom, office meeting, or Starbucks order turns into the same scene:<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I say that right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u2026 close enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the person whose name actually matters is silently screaming inside.<\/p>\n

Etienne\u2019s story is a perfect example of what happens when convenience wins over curiosity. Even announcers and coaches struggled, and eventually the easier pronunciation stuck because it required less effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Athletes deal with this all the time. Imagine being an elite star and still hearing your name butchered on national television. Just ask Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose name once terrified NBA commentators. Or Tua Tagovailoa, who patiently repeated his name until the entire NFL finally caught up. Even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has watched broadcasters pause mid-sentence like they\u2019re attempting a spelling bee on live TV.<\/p>\n

But Etienne\u2019s revelation also highlights something deeper. Names carry culture, family history, and identity. His Creole pronunciation connects to his Louisiana roots, something he says he\u2019s happy to embrace again now that he\u2019s back closer to home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So the lesson here is simple. When someone tells you how to say their name, try\u2014really try\u2014to learn it.<\/p>\n

Because somewhere out there is a Black kid named De\u2019Andre, J\u2019Marr, or Oluwatobi who would love to live in a world where people give their name the same effort they give \u201cSchwarzenegger.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if all else fails, just remember the new rule: it\u2019s Travis \u201cAy-chan.\u201d Not E-T-N.<\/p>\n

Class dismissed. <\/p>\n

The post Get It Right! New Orleans Saints Baller Travis Etienne Jr. Explains How To Pronounce His Name, Why Isn\u2019t Pronunciation Of Black Names Prioritized?<\/a> appeared first on Bossip<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Brooke Sutton \/ Getty When the Travis Etienne Jr. signed his new contract with the New Orleans Saints, most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":4598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-4547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}