“He Pronounced Everything Wrong”: US Man Leaves Mzansi in Stitches After Butchering Mzansi Surnames
- A US TikToker attempted to rank and pronounce popular South African surnames, and left many locals amused and rushing to correct his attempts
- The clip unpacked French, Dutch and African roots behind well-known names, but the pronunciations had Mzansi debating and laughing in equal measure
- Social media users shared their own stories of foreigners struggling with local surnames and turned the viral video into a moment of laughter on TikTok
A US-South African content creator has set TikTok alight after attempting to pronounce some of the country’s most common surnames.
Source: TikTok
The clip, shared online in February 2026, showed him ranking and mispronouncing 10 local surnames, and left many amused and others correcting him.
Jacob Hoff, who posts under the handle @jacobmhoff, uploaded the video on 20 February 2025. In it, he tackled names with Afrikaans, French and African roots. He also tried to unpack their meanings while saying them in his own American accent. The result was pure comedy.
From Joubert to Baloyi
Hoff began his countdown with Joubert at number 10, pointing out its French influence. He then moved to Jacobs and Grobler, and pronounced the latter in a way many South Africans would barely recognise.
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Fourie came in at number seven. Hoff explained that it is French for baker and said he loved the sound of it. Du Toit followed, which he translated as roof in French. He then attempted ‘Du Plessis’ in a way he admitted was already going wrong.
Dlamini landed at number four. Coetzee took third place, which Hoff described as a Dutch version of Jacob. He joked that if someone called him by that surname, he would assume they were simply referring to his name and not insulting him.
Botha came in second. Baloyi claimed the top spot on his butchering list.
Surname identity
While Hoff gave it his best shot, South Africans know that some of these names carry deep history. Surnames such as Du Toit, Du Plessis and Joubert trace back to French Huguenots who settled in the Cape in the late 1600s. Others, like Dlamini and Baloyi, are rooted in royal and clan lineages across southern Africa.
Watch the butchering below:
Mzansi reacts with humour
Instead of taking offence, many viewers saw the funny side. Some shared their own experiences of having their surnames mispronounced abroad.
@wonrow commented:
“He pronounced everything anti-SA.”
@AKI $ said:
In South Africa, it's pronounced DU TOY”
@Diané MHK: O.M.W wrote.
“You just roasted all those surnames; none were pronounced correctly. 😂””
@Danelle Viljoen commented:
:Mine isn't there, he'll roast it for sure because it's a French.😂”
@Fts_ella_ noted:
“If it wasn’t for the spelling, I wouldn’t have known what he said.”
Source: TikTok
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Source: Briefly News
