“Have you listened to Chappell Roan?” is a question I’ve been answering more and more recently. “Of course!” I reply, pointing to my phone which has “Red Wine Supernova” already queued up on Spotify. The popstar is experiencing unprecedented stardom and everyone’s starting to listen to her music. A big problem, however, is almost everyone who asks me that question mispronounces her name completely wrong.
I’ve heard so many variations of her name: Sha-pell Ro-wan, Chay-pell-y Roon, ChA-pull Row-ANN, etc. You get the gist. It’s not a familiar name that’s easy to read phonetically or pronounce if you’ve never heard it before. But, once you start pronouncing Chappell Roan’s name right, you’ll never stop.
Even the internet is up in arms about how to say the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer’s name. “So no one was gonna tell me Chapple [sic] Roan’s first name isn’t pronounced like “Dave Chappelle”!? Y’all were just gonna let me embarrass myself in front of the gays!?” one fan wrote on X. Another posted, “how do you pronounce “Chappell Roan”. does it rhyme with “apple scone?”
We’re settling this once and for all. So without further ado, here’s how to pronounce Chappell Roan the right way.
How to pronounce Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan is pronounced CHAP-əl ROHN. If that phonetic spelling is complicated, her first name sounds like “chapel” and her last name is prounced like “own” with an R before it.
It does not sound like shuh-pel rown despite what Google says, nor does it sound like Dave Chappelle’s last name at all. If you’re still confused, here’s a TikTok video of her flaming her audience for the mistake and pronouncing it correctly.
What does Chappell Roan’s name mean?
Chappell might seem like a random name for anyone, but it has a very wholesome meaning. “Chappell” is her late-grandfather’s last name and “The Strawberry Roan” was his favorite song.
The “Casual” artist’s real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, but she prefers to use her stage name fulltime. “I have never felt super connected to my real name Kayleigh,” she tod Cherwell. “My grandfather’s name was Dennis K. Chappell, so I took Chappell in his honor. Before he passed away in 2016 due to brain cancer, I told him that I was going to be Chappell for him. Roan came from his favorite song, which was called the ‘Strawberry Roan,’ an old Western song about a pinkish red horse. It’s a very sentimental name. I do still wish my name was not Kayleigh in real life, though.”
Read how Chappell Roan’s Coachella makeup artist made her iconic look here.
