Mariska Hargitay Explains Why Her Name Is Misspelled on Law & Order: SVU Set

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The SVU star shares a funny story behind her name and how she turned a mix-up into a joke everyone remembers.

Mariska Hargitay has spent over two decades solving crimes on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. However, there is one mystery that never seems to end, and that is the way people pronounce her name.

During a lighthearted chat with Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast, Mariska shared how often people still say her name wrong. “Oh, I still live with it,” she said. “My cousin, who I’ve known since 1994, still calls me Ma-ris-ka.” The correct way to say it is “Ma-rish-ka.” She laughed as she recalled the moment, and she admitted that she almost corrected him but decided to let it go.

On the set of Law & Order: SVU, she found a unique way to fix the issue. Mariska now writes her name on the call sheet as “M-A-R-I-S-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-K-A.” She said it helps people remember the “H” sound in the middle. “That’s how I put it on the call sheet, just so people go, ‘Oh, okay, got it,’” she explained.

Mariska also talked about where her unique name comes from. Born Mariska Magdolna Hargitay in 1964, she said the name is Hungarian and originally belonged to her grandmother, Maria. In Hungarian, “Mariska” is a nickname that means “little Maria.”

After years of leading SVU as Captain Olivia Benson, Mariska has become one of most loved and respected TV stars. Even though people still struggle to say her name right, she takes it all with humor and a smile. That is what makes her even more special.