{"id":2117369,"date":"2025-10-27T00:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T00:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2117369"},"modified":"2025-10-27T00:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T00:43:18","slug":"why-mariska-hargitay-makes-them-misspell-her-name-on-law-order-svu-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/why-mariska-hargitay-makes-them-misspell-her-name-on-law-order-svu-set\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mariska Hargitay makes them misspell her name on \u201cLaw &#038; Order: SVU\u201d set"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/mariska-hargitay\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Mariska Hargitay;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Mariska Hargitay<\/a> can&#8217;t get no respect \u2014 not even on her own show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The TV legend and daughter of Hollywood icons <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/person\/jayne-mansfield\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Jayne Mansfield;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Jayne Mansfield<\/a> and Mickey Hargitay knows she has a unique name. But she gets tired of the mispronunciations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Oh, I still live with it,&#8221; she told Amy Poehler on the latest episode of her <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P3Xi27kcH-E&amp;t=2226s\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Good Hang podcast;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>Good Hang <\/em>podcast<\/a>. &#8220;Who was it last night? Oh, I had a lunch yesterday \u2014 brunch, for my sister, and my cousin was there. I&#8217;ve known him since 1994, and he kept calling me Ma-ris-ka.&#8221; (Hargitay pronounces her first name as Ma-rish-ka.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The actress said she nearly corrected her own flesh and blood as to the hidden &#8220;h&#8221; in the pronunciation, but decided to let it go. But the same behavior won&#8217;t stand on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/law-and-order-special-victims-unit\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Law &amp; Order: Special Victims Unit;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><em>Law &amp; Order: Special Victims Unit<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;When it happens, because it happens on set a lot, now on the call sheet, it&#8217;s M-A-R-I-S-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-K-A. That&#8217;s how I put it on the call sheet, just so people go, &#8216;Oh, okay, got it. She&#8217;s big on the Hs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\">\n<p>Jose Perez\/Bauer-Griffin\/GC Images<\/p>\n<p> Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay on &#8216;Law &amp; Order: Special Victims Unit&#8217;<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hargitay continued that she&#8217;s heard endless permutations of her name. &#8220;Maritza, Marcika, Markiska, but [Christopher Meloni] will call me Maritza on set,&#8221; she shared.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Born Mariska Magdolna Hargitay in 1964, the actress has <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbc.com\/nbc-insider\/mariska-hargitay-name-meaning\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:previously explained;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">previously explained<\/a> that her &#8220;whole name is my dad&#8217;s mother&#8217;s name.&#8221; The name is from Hungary, the country of origin of her father, whose full name was Mikl\u00f3s K\u00e1roly Hargitay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Emmy winner joked to Poehler that in Hungarian, Mariska means &#8220;gorgeous, talented one, ray of sunshine, queen of, queen of \u2014 queen of something.&#8221; Getting serious, she elaborated that the name is actually &#8220;a nickname for Maria. It means little Maria. In Hungarian, the K-A or K-E on the end of a name, it just is a little endearment. So the name is actually Maria, after my grandmother.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ew-dispatch-newsletter-11812417\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:EW Dispatch newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">EW Dispatch newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It&#8217;s hard to believe there&#8217;s anyone left on the <em>SVU <\/em>set that would mispronounce Mariska, given she&#8217;s led the show across its full, 26-year run on NBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As Detective-turned-Captain Olivia Benson, Hargitay has tussled with some of New York City&#8217;s most rotten criminals, and shared the screen with some of Hollywood&#8217;s brightest stars. Mickey Hargitay, whom she revealed is <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/mariska-hargitay-reveals-identity-of-her-biological-father-11737210\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:not her biological father;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">not her biological father<\/a> in the recent documentary <em>My Mom Jayne<\/em>, even appeared in a guest role on the season 5 episode &#8220;Control,&#8221; his kindly grandfather providing a statement to Benson after he witnesses a bleeding man fall and die.<em><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Watch Hargitay&#8217;s full\u00a0<em>Good Hang<\/em>\u00a0episode above.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/mariska-hargitay-misspell-name-law-and-order-svu-set-11835379\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mariska Hargitay can&#8217;t get no respect \u2014 not even on her own show. The TV legend and daughter of Hollywood icons Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay knows she has a unique name. But she gets tired of the mispronunciations. &#8220;Oh, I still live with it,&#8221; she told Amy Poehler on the latest episode of her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2117370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[348302,348343,400213,342194,319378,401668,401667,339222,401669],"class_list":["post-2117369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-amy-poehler","tag-christopher-meloni","tag-jayne-mansfield","tag-law-order-special-victims-unit","tag-mariska-hargitay","tag-mariska-magdolna-hargitay","tag-mickey-hargitay","tag-olivia-benson","tag-unique-name"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Why-Mariska-Hargitay-makes-them-misspell-her-name-on-Law.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2117369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2117371,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117369\/revisions\/2117371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2117370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2117369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2117369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2117369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}