This is a set of lists of English personal and place names having spellings that are counterintuitive to their pronunciation because the spelling does not accord with conventional pronunciation associations, or because a better known namesake with the same spelling has a markedly different pronunciation. The latter types are known as heterophonic names or

heterophone A heteronym (also known as a heterophone) is a word that has a different pronunciation and meaning from another word but the same spelling. These are homographs that are not homophones. Thus, ''lead'' (the metal) and ''lead'' (a leash) are hete ...

s (unlike

heterograph A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...

s, which are written differently but pronounced the same). Excluded are the numerous spellings which fail to make the pronunciation obvious without actually being at odds with convention: for example, the pronunciation of ''

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

'' is not immediately obvious, but neither is it counterintuitive. See Help:IPA/English for guides to the IPA symbols used, and variations depending on dialect.

Place names

Boldened names indicate place names where only one part is pronounced irregularly, italicized pronunciations are uncommon.

Exonyms An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, o ...

are listed among examples.

General rules

Specific places

This list does not include place names in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

or the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, or places following spelling conventions of non-English languages. For UK place names, see

List of irregularly spelled places in the United Kingdom This is a sublist of List of irregularly spelled English names. These common suffixes have these regular pronunciations, yet would be counterintuitive (irregular) in normal English: * -b(o)rough and -burgh – * -bury – * -cester – * -com ...

. For US place names, see

List of irregularly spelled places in the United States This list is a sublist of List of irregularly spelled English names. List Notes References *{{cite web, title=A Pronunciation Guide to Places in Ohio, publisher=E. W. Scripps School of Journalism The E. W. Scripps School of Journalism ...

. This list includes territories of the

and the

not wholly annexed into either country.

Personal names

Bold names are common; so while not intuitive, are among the most well-used. Names in italics are common are names of non-English origin common among English speakers and only irregular in English pronunciation.

Place names

General rules

Specific places

Personal names

Given names

Specific people

General use

Family names

Specific people

General use

See also

Notes

References

Further reading