It’s a regular Australian household name – no matter which way it’s pronounced.
But it appears even brothers Karl and Peter Stefanovic are in disagreement over how to correctly pronounce their last name.
While speaking with musician Jack Johnson on 60 Minutes on Sunday night, Peter pronounced his last name as ‘Ste-fan-oh-vich’.
Brothers Karl (right) and Peter Stefanovic (left) appear to be in disagreement over how to correctly pronounce their last name
While speaking with musician Jack Johnson on 60 Minutes, Peter (left) pronounced his last name as ‘Ste-fan-oh-vich’
The pronunciation was at odds with what Karl explained to be the original way to say the last name of Serbian origin, which was adapted by their father to sound more ‘Australian’.
The Today show star appeared on Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty Show in May, where he was quizzed on how to say his last name.
‘Is there a Serbian version of Stefanovic? Have we tidied it up for the Anglo world we live in?’ Marty asked.
‘Yeah we have… “Stef-ahn-oh-vitch”. Sounds more credible doesn’t it?’ Karl replied.
Despite sounding similar, Karl appears to have a flatter pronunciation of the letter ‘a’ in the family name.
The pronunciation was at odds with what Karl (pictured) explained to be the original way to say the last name of Serbian origin
The Today show star appeared on Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty Show in May, where he was quizzed on how to say his last name
Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa joked with Peter on Monday morning, with Wippa saying he has ‘never heard’ Peter’s version before.
‘Are you trying to sound a little bit more international as you go overseas?’ he asked.
‘I was showing off,’ the prominent journalist replied.
‘I can’t have him having a cool name like ‘Johnson’ and have me just going “Stefanovic” – I needed to ramp it up a bit.’
Peter further explained that he began pronouncing it that way while working as a foreign correspondent in Europe.
‘When I lived in Europe for five or so years and I was working – that’s how the Europeans pronounce it – so I just got into a habit of saying it that way.’
Cross-cultural: Karl also admitted on-air that his father changed the family name to make it sound more Australian