List of irregularly spelled English names

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. Many of these are degenerations in the pronunciation of names that originated in other languages. Sometimes a well-known namesake with the same spelling has a markedly different pronunciation. These are known as heterophonic names or heterophones (unlike heterographs, 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 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 are listed among examples.

Specific places
This list does not include place names in the United Kingdom or the United States, or places following spelling conventions of non-English languages. For UK place names, see List of irregularly spelled places in the United Kingdom. For US place names, see List of irregularly spelled places in the United States.

This list includes territories of the United Kingdom and the United States not wholly annexed into either country.

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