Phonetic Name Spelling Generator

A phonetic name spelling is a plain-English respelling that tells a reader how to say a name without learning the International Phonetic Alphabet. The convention used here is the one found in newsroom style guides and pronunciation dictionaries: syllables separated by hyphens, the stressed syllable in CAPITALS, and familiar English letter combinations standing in for sounds. So Siobhan becomes shi-VAWN, Joaquin becomes wah-KEEN, and Nguyen becomes WIN. A schwa (the neutral "uh" sound in the second syllable of Ava) is written as "uh", long vowels are written as AY, EE, EYE, OH, and OO, and tricky consonants like the Polish rz become "zh".

Good respellings solve a real problem. Names from Irish, Welsh, Yoruba, Polish, Vietnamese, and Igbo backgrounds are constantly mispronounced in Anglophone offices and classrooms, and even ordinary English names like Ralph (RAYF in the traditional British reading) or Louis (LOO-ee) have more than one accepted pronunciation. Putting the respelling in an email signature, a Zoom display name, a conference badge, or the notes for a wedding officiant or graduation announcer removes the guesswork.

The list covers the most common English-language given names plus a wide selection of names that English speakers reliably get wrong. Where a name has regional variants (Xavier as ZAY-vee-ur in the US or ZAV-ee-ay in Spanish-influenced areas), the most common Anglophone reading is given, so check with the person if you are announcing them.