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New Orleans Saints running back Travis Etienne has been living with the wrong pronunciation of his name for years.
He’s ready to change that now that he’s back home in Louisiana.
Etienne grew up in Jennings, Louisiana, where everyone pronounced his last name like “Achane” – similar to how Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane’s name sounds. When he got to Clemson in 2017, though, people kept saying “ETN” instead. He tried correcting them at first.
After about four weeks of daily corrections, he gave up.
PSA: Travis Etienne Jr. on how to pronounce his last name pic.twitter.com/UNfFdXcrCg
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) March 13, 2026
“Growing up, it was Travis Achane. A-C-H-A-N-E,” Etienne explained Friday. “That’s how they always said it, Travis Achane. But when I went to college, I kept telling them my name, like, every day, every day, every day. After like four weeks, they just couldn’t get it. So I’m like, ‘Man, it’s ETN. How you see it is how you say it.’”
The mispronunciation stuck because it made life easier – announcers could read it off the page without stumbling, and Etienne didn’t have to spend his energy on constant corrections. Once he started learning more about his family name and its origins, the college version made some sense too.
But that chapter’s over.
Etienne signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the Saints this week after spending five seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s coming home to Louisiana, where people already know how to say his name.
“I’m very much open to being Travis Achane again, just being myself,” Etienne said. “I don’t have to correct people here on how to say my name each and every day. And I kind of love that. Just getting back to me.”
It’s a small thing – a name pronunciation – but it matters when you’ve been called something different for nearly a decade. The Saints are getting a running back who’s ready to reclaim his identity along with his homecoming.
