Overview
- Wilde interrupted hosts on the Armchair Expert podcast to correct the pronunciation of her birth name, saying Cockburn is pronounced “Coburn,” a moment widely reported after the episode.
- She noted the name is Scottish and that its spelling often prompts misreading and childhood jokes that she says were “character building.”
- Wilde said she picked the professional surname Wilde in high school as a tribute to Oscar Wilde and to honor a family habit of writers using pen names.
- On the podcast she described teasing over the spelling as an early lesson in laughing along and joked about giving children “devastating” middle names to build resilience.
- The exchange has been treated as a short, human-interest story by multiple outlets and ties to her current public appearances as the director and star of the film The Invite.