"Growing up, it [was pronounced] Travis 'Achane.' So, it's like, A-C-H-A-N-E. And that's how you always said Travis 'Achane.' But when I went to college, I kept telling them my name, like, every day, every day, every day. After like four weeks, they just couldn't get it. So I'm like, 'Man, it's [pronounced] ee-tee-en - how you see it is how you say it.'"
"And it kind of just took off because it was easier for announcers to say it. I didn't have to correct them every day [on how] to say my name. ... It just kind of stuck and made sense."
Travis Etienne, a running back who recently signed a four-year, $52-million contract with the New Orleans Saints, has been using a simplified pronunciation of his last name throughout his college and professional football careers. Growing up in Jennings, Louisiana, his name was pronounced "Achane," but when he attended Clemson University, he found the original pronunciation difficult for others to grasp. After spending weeks correcting people daily, Etienne decided to adopt the simplified "ee-tee-en" pronunciation, which matched the spelling and proved easier for announcers and others to say. This adaptation stuck throughout his college career and his time with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Now that he is returning to his home state to play for the Saints, Etienne expressed openness to reverting to his original name pronunciation.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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