Thandiwe Newton reclaims her name after it's been misspelled her entire career

Thandiwe Newton.
(Image credit: CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Thandiwe Newton is her name. Her mother, a Zimbabwean princess, and her father, a lab technician from Cornwall, England, named her Thandiwe, meaning "beloved" in Zulu.

The 'w' first disappeared from her name in Catholic school, forming a more anglicized "Thandie." At school she was "made to feel like an in-house missionary project," writes Diana Evans in a cover story for British Vogue.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Taylor Watson

Taylor Watson is audience engagement editor for TheWeek.com and a former editorial assistant. She graduated from Syracuse University, with a major in magazine journalism and minors in food studies and nutrition. Taylor has previously written for Runner's World, Vice, and more.