How Do You Pronounce Mnuchin?

Image by Getty Images

By Laura E. Adkins December 2, 2016

Steven Mnuchin, a longtime Trump acquaintance, Goldman Sachs executive, and Hollywood producer with no political experience, is expected to be tapped as Treasury Secretary by Donald Trump as early as Nov 30.

But the pronunciation of his name has been befuddling many in the media:

so here are a bunch of news anchors who don’t know how to pronounce Steven Mnuchin’s name pic.twitter.com/ATmsTASUaz

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— Matt Negrin (@MattNegrin) November 30, 2016

So, how exactly do you pronounce Mnuchin?

According to the nice lady who answered Goldman Sachs’s media line, it’s pretty simple: Men-oo-chin.

But how did a Jewish family get a last name like Mnuchin?

As reported in Haaretz, Mnuchin is actually a fairly common Russian-Jewish name and is probably derived from either Menachem (מנחם), a common name among many famous Jews both ancient and modern, or Menucha (מנוחה), meaning rest.

Laura E. Adkins is the Forward’s contributing network editor. Contact her at adkins@forward.com or on Twitter, @Laura_E_Adkins.

Laura E. Adkins is a senior director at Jewish Women International and the former opinion editor of the Forward. Email her or follow her on X.

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