Olivia Wilde appeared on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast this week and revealed that her real last name is not Wilde but Cockburn, which is pronounced "Coburn." The actress, born Olivia Jane Cockburn, chose the stage name "Wilde" as a tribute to Irish poet Oscar Wilde.
Parents' Background and Mispronunciation
Wilde is the daughter of journalists Andrew and Leslie Cockburn. When Shepard brought up her parents, Wilde corrected his pronunciation of her birth surname. "I'll tell you something — and there's no way you would know this — it's pronounced 'Coburn,'" Wilde told Shepard. “I want you to imagine being a kid, when you’re… Because it’s spelled 'Cockburn!'"
Childhood Teasing and Resilience
Explaining that the pronunciation comes from Scottish origins, Wilde said having "Cockburn" as a last name was "character building" for her and her siblings. "I think it's important — we should all give our kids devastating middle names just so that you can grow up with, like, something to be totally bullied for," she said, adding that the childhood teasing was "an early important lesson in laughing along." She noted, "Not in a way that was, like, giving into the bullies in a way. I don't know. I thought it was funny, too. I was like, 'Oh, I get it. That’s funny.'"
Modern Teasing Still Likely
When Shepard suggested that the teasing might not be as bad today, Wilde disagreed. "I think having the last name that looks like 'Cockburn' in any city in any decade…" she said, to which Shepard agreed: "It's too easy." Wilde added, “You’re always gonna learn to laugh early.”
