‘Sounds Better’: Tiffany Haddish Drops Bombshell About Her Real Name — and the Shocking Reason She Kept It Secret
Tiffany Haddish is reintroducing herself.
The “Girls Trip” star had a difficult upbringing growing up in South Central, Los Angeles. Due to the instability at home, she and her siblings went into foster care.
She often reflects on how that experience helped shape her resilience, humor, and the voice that later defined her now-award-winning career.
Haddish has spoken about how abusive her mother, Leola Haddish, who developed schizophrenia from a car accident when Haddish was 8, became toward her.
As for her father, Tsihaye Reda Haddish, he left when the Hollywood star was 3, and she didn’t reconnect with him until she was 27 years old. The reunion led the actress to dig deeper, to learn that her father was Eritrean and practiced Judaism.
In 2018, the “Night School” star visited Eritrea to bury her father, and years later has completed the process to become a naturalized citizen in the country. Not only that, but she owns properties and land there.
Since immersing herself in her family’s culture, Haddish learned that her last name is pronounced much differently than how she and the rest of the world have been saying it.
During her chat on One54 with former NFL player and TV host Akbar Gbajabiamila and her comedy friend Godfrey, Haddish unveiled how her name is actually pronounced by the people in Eritrea.
Akbar, introducing the subject, said to Godfrey, “Now you with some inside stuff. You was like Ha-Deesh.” He turned to Haddish and asked, “Is it Haddish or Ha-Deesh?’”
“It depends on where you from. Who you are,” she responded. To further clarify, Akbar asked, “OK, so Eritreans would say…?”
“Ha-Deesh,” she said.
She then joked that some people may put more emphasis on the first syllable of her name.
Godfrey said, “Because I knew her as Tiffany Haddish. I’ve known you for a long time — over two decades, and it was just like, ‘I’m Tiffany Haddsh,’ and I never really thought it’s not a Jackson, it’s not a Smith, it’s not a Jenkins, it’s not a McAffrey, it’s not a Mc-whatever. I never thought about it. And then when she brought it up, I said, ‘God, that makes sense no.’”
Haddish admitted she’s tried to “keep it simple for people,” Especially back then, I was just like, ‘Just keep it simple, don’t be too complicated with people.’ Just let them get to know the basics and then, you know, then you open up for them.”
An Instagram user who appeared to be familiar with the language typed, “Haddish means New or Fresh in Tigrinya (Eritrean).”
One fan on Threads said, “Even sounds better when she says it correctly!” Another who also seems to be a fan of the name wrote, “I love the original pronunciation.”
Facebook users noticed a pattern between Haddish and other celebs who have mentioned their names being pronounced wrong. “First Denzel, then Raven Symoné, now Tiffany Haddish (huhdish),” said one person. One perosn said, “And now that it’s revealed… WoW!! It does make more sense.”
A more seasoned fan on IG said, “I knew this because of that old show on nbc where you competed with other comedians. I just thought you wanted it pronounced that way.” But one skeptic chimed in, “Wait, I thought … I’m convinced she be lying sometimes.”
Haddish knows how easy it is to slip up with names—she faced backlash herself not long ago.
In February, at the 2026 NFL Honors, she announced the 2025 Coach of the Year but stumbled over Mike Vrabel’s name while reading it.
She said, “Mike Verbal” instead of how it’s really pronounced, which is Vray-ble.
The “Nobody’s Fool” star responded to the backlash she received from NFL fans.
She told the Daily Mail, “I pronounced that coach’s name the way that it was written. Have you seen how it is spelled? V-R-A-B-E-L. I learned how to read with Hooked on Phonics!”
Vrabel was not present at the ceremony, and he never publicly commented on the incident.