People are only just realising they've been pronouncing Mercedes wrong their whole lives

The iconic company was founded in 1926 by four people – Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach and Emil Jellinek, with the name Mercedes inspired by the latter's daughter's name

Mercedes is one of the most iconic, instantly recognisable brands in the world but it turns out many people are pronouncing its name wrong.

The German brand is synonymous with style, history and innovation. The luxury auto company was founded in 1926 by four people – Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach and Emil Jellinek. Mercedes came about after Emil Jellinek was inspired by his daughter’s name.

The company then went on to become one of the most famous premium brands across the globe - but this doesn’t mean everyone has mastered the correct pronunciation of its name. In a recent study by Saga car insurance, Brits were asked to correctly pronounce the names of 30 best-selling car manufacturers, as well as successfully spell them, and draw the companies’ logos from memory.

Mercedes was discovered to be among the most difficult brands to pronounce with just 20% of Brits using an authentic pronunciation, while most said “Mer-say-deez”. The test accepted both a Spanish pronunciation “Mer-th-eh-des Benz” as well as the more common German pronunciation, “Mer-say-dez Benz”, as the correct ones.

But many people can’t agree on the correct pronunciation of the legendary brand, with one person turning to Reddit for guidance. In the Ireland subreddit, they shared: “Help me out here. I say Merseedays. I don't know where I picked it up. The F1 commentators say mersaydees on TV but they're not Irish. Has anyone any recordings of the former pronunciation? I found a post on boards.ie from 2010 saying that radio ads use this pronunciation but I can't find one anywhere!”

One person replied: “Mair-they-dayth”, while another said: “Mur - Say - Deez” and a third commented: “The correct German way to pronounce it is Mertz-saydez”. And another posed an inquiry of their own: “Mer say dez. It could even be Mehr say dayth. It's Spanish. It means 'Mary of the Graces.' Now onto more important things: How do you say Peugeot?”

Another added: “I've alway said Mercaydees. Though I generally just say ‘Merc’ (as in merk).”

On X, formerly known as Twitter, the brand name’s pronunciation was equally divisive. One person quipped: “Snoop Dogg once said Mercedes has 3 E's and they're all pronounced differently. I think about this a lot”.

Another pleaded: “Stop saying Mercedes Benzzzzz [sobbing face emoji]. You may not know how to speak German, but you can learn to pronounce some German words correctly”.

The popular account Historic Vids shared a video discussing the creation of the legendary brand name and simply penned: “Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius shares how the name 'Mercedes' came about.” In the footage, the tale of Jellinek’s desire to honour his daughter’s name by using Mercedes for a new car was confirmed.

The company logo proves that, despite any confusion on the correct way to pronounce its name, the brand still boasts impressive recognition. In Saga’s survey, the Mercedes logo was the second most recognisable for Brits and just over half were able to recall the three-pointed star from memory when asked to draw it.

Its simple design meant that of those who attempted a drawing, 88% managed to accurately recreate it. Despite struggling with the pronunciation, Brits fared much better with the spelling of Mercedes-Benz with 83% getting it correct.