“Today years old finding this out”: Marriott board chairman explains how to actually pronounce the hotel chain’s name

Marriott welcomed a group of 75 loyalty members to its headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, this week.

How do you say Marriott, really?

During a Q&A session, Chairman of the Board David Marriott cleared up what he called one of the most common mistakes people make about his family’s name.

According to him, the right way is “meh-ree-uht,” not “meh-ree-aat.” A clip posted on TikTok by @jakewsmith shows him explaining it in detail, and even pulling out a personal story to make the point stick.

“David Marriott, Chairman of the Board, on the correct way to pronounce ‘Marriott’,” user @jakewsmith wrote on the video’s text overlay.

“My wife used to be a school teacher,” Marriott says in the video, recalling their years in Utah. His story also included a fun detail: his wife once taught at East High in Utah, the school where High School Musical was filmed, which their kids still think is the coolest thing ever.

“She had a student named Elliot, and he kept calling her Mrs. Marriott,” he continued, pronouncing it the wrong way.

Eventually, his wife asked the student how he pronounced his own
Name. “She finally sat Elliot down one day, and she said, ‘Elliot, how do you pronounce your name?”

“He said, Elliot,” Marriott added, pointing out that the same rule applies to their surname. If it’s not Elli-aat, then it’s not Marri-aat either.

@jakewsmith David Marriott, Chairman of the Board of Marriott International, on the correct way to pronounce Marriott! #marriott #marriottbonvoy #memberday #bonvoy ♬ original sound – Jake | Travel & Points ✈️

In the comments, some wondered why the brand itself hasn’t made the pronunciation clearer. “So why is it pronounced incorrectly on the commercials?” one person asked.

Another said, “I’ve never heard it pronounced ‘marry it’ in my life.”

“Too late I’m not changing,” writes another.

Another kept it lighthearted, joking, “Hilton is easier to pronounce.”

“I fully expected, after the long expectation, that the correct pronunciation was going to be different from either of the options stated in the first 2 seconds,” quipped a fourth commenter.

A former employee confirmed the pronunciation, saying, “When I helped open an Autograph Collection hotel, the trainers said if you love something, you marry it.” They continued that it “stuck with me and I can’t say it the other way now.”