David Marriott, chairman of the board of Marriott International, settled a decades-old pronunciation debate this week during an event with loyalty members at the company’s headquarters in Bethesda, Md. The third-generation hospitality executive revealed the correct way to say his family’s name—and it’s probably not the way you’ve been pronouncing it.
Speaking to a group of 75 loyalty members, in a moment that’s been widely shared on TikTok, Marriott explained that the hotel chain’s name should be pronounced “marry-et,” not “marry-ott.” The pronunciation rhymes with “chariot,” emphasizing the final sound as “et” rather than “ott.”
