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How to Pronounce American States and Cities
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- Published on Mar 13, 2026
- Learn How to Pronounce American States and Cities Correctly. This video teaches you the most commonly mispronounced names of US cities and states.
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/ accurateenglishlisa
I love how you didn't just teach us the pronunciation, but also the history behind the names! Thanks for going the extra mile!
true
@cursivalhello friend, where are you from?
@İranHalkınınyanındayımhe is from Brazil. He is from Brazil. I know because i m also são-paulino
Not really. Nothing about the history of the Spanish names. The Spanish founded hundreds of cities in the US.
Would prefer not to hear ‘incorrect’ pronunciations!
I’m a native English speaker from the US and for some odd reason I find myself here watching this video🤣
Happens to me with german C2 videos, as a native german, I always think "who on earth talks like that?" 😂
:55 I know native born Americans who Mispronounce
Arkansas by pronouncing the S,
Illinois pronouncing the S
New Haven stressing NEW. That's how I can tell if someone is not from Conn.
People outside of Nevada for centuries were taught to pronounce it like Ne-VAH-da. During the presidential elections we all found out we were saying it wrong. lol
ME TOO! 😂😂😂
There are many place names in England that also cause people difficulty: Leicester (lester), Worcester (wooster), Mousehole (mowzil), Buckingham (silent 'h'), Birmingham (also silent 'h'), Launceston (lawnston), Scarborough (scarbra), Berwick (silent 'w' with the 'e' sounding the same as in 'berry' - berick), and many others. These are fascinating insights into place names and I appreciated the historical notes described by the teacher that accompanied different American place names.
Some of those place names in the UK are really confusing, like Leicester
+ Salisbury, Derby
@kaylee9069Good examples there.
Berwick, Pa. is pronounced like it's spelled.
Good examples. Even crazier than American names.
And now we have the AI misprouncing so many words. It drives me crazy! Especially words that are spelled the same but pronounced diferently. Example is "read" It can be "reed" or "red" depending on how the word is used in a sentence.
Dutch railway stations use AI now, for the announcements. That really goes horribly wrong just about every time. Glad I don't need to use the railway-network too often anymore...
You make life easier for English students. Nice weekend!
Tucson was the capital of Arizona only from 1867-1877. Phoenix is the capital of Arizona.
Bakersfield is the Capital of California
@alexshatner3907 ever heard about Sacramento then?
@AlexPalmese I was joking
Those names are
ALL NATIVE PEOPLE names !!!
So ask them politely how to pronounce them and let the entire America correct themselves !!!
@alexshatner3907oh my god, no.
That was helpful..
I almost knew the right prononciation of those words coz I heard them on shows multiple times. But telling the history of those words was nice👍
Those names are
ALL NATIVE PEOPLE names !!!
So ask them politely how to pronounce them and let the entire America correct themselves !!!
Excellent video, but Tucson is not the capital of Arizona.
My mistake! ☹️
@AccurateEnglish Yes, the capital Phoenix is also tricky!
@AccurateEnglishno worries. We were *almost* the capital! Lol. There was a compromise when we got statehood. Phoenix got to be the capital and we got the University of Arizona. ❤ Best deal ever!
@lollipop1978Bear Down!!!
Tucson “The Old Pueblo” was once the territorial capital.
Prior to phoenix being the capital of Arizona, Prescott was the Arizona territory capital. The locals pronounce Prescott Press cut.
11:33 No Beatles fan pronounces "Tucson, Arizona" wrong because of Get Back. Thanks, Paul!
Yeah😅, that’s how I learned the right Tucson pronunciation too!
You said the stress is on the first syllable of "Arizona", but I thin the primary stress on "Arizona" is on the third syllable, and the secondary syllable is on the first.
I believe you meant to write that the secondary stress (not syllable) is on the first syllable. And you are correct.
To restate, the primary accent or stress is on the third syllable, and the secondary accent or stress is on the first. Lifelong Arizonan here.
As near as I can tell I put equal emphasis on each syllable.
@lilolmecjSo you personally write it as Ari Zona, then? You can't have two primary stresses in one word - one of them is always secondary.
Arida Zona
Oh, I enjoyed your lesson very much, because you gave us an interesting view into the history! Many, many thanks! ✨️🌸
Thank you!
Houston Street in New York is pronounced as How-ston, not like the city in Texas.
Burgundy Street in New Orleans is pronounced Bur-gun-dee with emphasis on middle. It is weird. 💕
That's because the dialect of English spoken by Yankees was heavily influenced by non-English speaking immigrants.
Same as the Houston here in Ohio.
@lilolmecj seems like more of the French and/or Creole pronunciation
@GaiusTacitus because it was Dutch before it became English historry
French-English-German interpreter here, fantastic and clear explanations. 🎉
Thank you!
From VIET NAM, Thank YOU very much teacher for your lessons . ❤❤
Don't listen to her. You've got bigger problems than learning to pronounce quixotically pronounced names you'll never need anyhow.
A big mistake to the Vietnamese is they put the Vietnamese language into English learning it. Teacher is just a noun for a type of job, a teacher, a driver, a nurse, a doctor…It is not a pronounce used to call people. We say “Mr. Ngo, how are you today?” or “Sir, how are you today?”. We don’t say “Teacher Khuong, how are you today?”
Greetings to the people on the water ;)
However if you were just a little bit rude you could say "Hey teacher!" To catch their attention.
I know the pronunciation of albuquerque from breaking bad
Albuquerque is one of the most depressing places I've even been to. Hard pass. Keep on driving if you're passing through it.
I pronounce it as I'll be quirky.
I only stumbled over the "c" in Tucson. Never noticed it before. Thanks a lot.😊
I have an exception to the rule on stressing the second word of a 2 word city. I live in Long Beach, California. We stress LONG.
Hard to say which is worse, Albuquerque or Long Beach. At least you've got the ocean in Long Beach.
They stress the beginning in North Dakota to
Same in Long Branch, New Jersey.
Several examples among the comments down here. It figures, since americans always think that the bigger the better. And of course North Dakota isn't SOUTH Dakota, and therefore much better and bigger. At least to the North Dakotans.
cheers! / CS
@Mah@MahoneyJameson’Long Beach, but Long ‘Island… 😅
Thank you so much for this amazing lesson. I knew how to pronounce them all though. I noticed a little factual mistake in this video. I think Phoenix is the capital of Arizona now. Tucson used to be the capital for some time in 19th century. 😀
History and pronunciation of cities name worth learning....thank you.
Beautiful history relating to the pronunciation of the words.
The picture showed for Alburquerque , in Spain, is actually Segovia
I've been there (in 1984, no less) and immediately thought the same thing!
What about Mackinac town and Mackinac island ?
Thank you. I've learnt a lot.
Great video.
Thanks from Peru. 🇵🇪
#Paddington has stress on the first syllable
@Cjnw I know. 😊
Beautiful lesson , thank you ☺️
Thanks Lisa. This was great ❤
Thanks for the class!!
Thank you so much teacher for new lesson 🍀💫🤗
When I was in the military I had a man in my outfit who was raised in the very southern part of Illinois and the s was not silent for him. He also pronounce pillow as piller. How people pronounce names and words in general is very dependent on where they grew up.
And some people in the south see a creek, and pronounce it crik, or oil is pronounced erl. That what makes language fun.
Agree. My relatives in Queens, New York stress the York while those in Phoenix, Arizona stress the New.
@tardismole Reminds me of that old story about some guys who were very happy that they got a message as text. Because it could have been worse. (Pronounced "voice" of course...)
cheers! / CS
@123brownies1 I live in the south. I've only heard creek pronounced as crik when my family visited Pennsylvania back in the 70s. 🤷
The guy from Illinois was just ignorant or unlearned. In my youth I picked up some wrong pronunciation from my Dad who was an uneducated man. I was in my teens when I finally learned the correct pronunciation of different words. My Mom wouldn't correct my pronunciation because she didn't want to seem condescending to my Dad. I live in Illinois but was surprised recently when I went to a funeral in Southern Illinois and heard the minister say the "s". Try the word Missouri. I've heard Governor Kit Bond call his state Missourah. And I have heard it pronounced MissourE. With a long E. What drives most Metro East or STL residents crazy is for someone to call Saint Louis as St Louie. If I hear Saint Louie come out of someone's mouth, I know that they are messing with me or just plain ignorant..
Thank you, Teacher Lisa!! 🙏🏻🌸🌸🌸
The fun thing about Chicago is that native pronunciation differs depending on where (and maybe when) you are from. My old school South Sider dad pronounces it as Sh'cau-go. (The rest of the family pronounces it Sh'cah-go, with just a bit of the famous nasal inflection.)
I got headache learning the right pronunciation of States and Cities😂. How can I remember all of these. But thank you for this video.
It's the Great Lakes/Northern Cities Vowel Shift that has been changing the pronunciation for several decades. It's a location thing, but also has generational and socio-economic influences -- so you can get a mish-mash of vowel sounds, even in the same family. Or, for me, depending on how "lazy" I'm feeling about my vowels on any given day!
My dad was from Ravenswood and didn't speak with the shifted vowels. My mom was from Humboldt Park and does. None of their parents were native English speakers -- so the influence would have come from their neighborhoods.
I saw the sentence at 9:44 but my brain used the British Cockney dialect to read it out loud. I actually said: "I go' a li''le bo''le ov wa'er." Couldn't stop giggling for a few minutes. 😅😅😅
Amazing. Wonderful!
Congratulations.. really
I'm only in the 3nd minute of the video, and I'm learning things I was always curious about!
At last.... Someone explained them! I'll continue watching the video now, and of course I've already become a subscriber.!
❤ 1000 thank you
That's great to hear! Thanks for subscribing. 🎉
And maybe, I'll go even further at some point 😊
(It's very interesting to improve your skills, special the linguistics)
Always great content!❤
Merci. J'ai beaucoup appris.
When I visited New Orleans, I noticed that many of the locals pronounce it differently from her “standard” American English pronunciation. They combine the word “new” with the first syllable of “Orleans” and drop the “r” entirely, so it sounds like “Nawlins”. The local pronunciation has evolved over 200+ years. Something similar has happened to Atlanta. Most Americans say “at-LAN-ta” and we consider that the correct pronunciation. But some of the locals skip the T’s and pronounce it something like “Allanna”.
Thanks, These are really great tricks to pronounce our states.
You're such a gourgeous woman, and of course a great professional!
'Willamette' River in Portland, 'Oregon'
There's two words that are hard to say correctly.
Very informative, thanks.
A fun song to listen to is “I’ve Been Everywhere” by Johnny Cash, names lots of places.
I find your channel the best to learn English. Thank you.
Here's a couple that will surprise even native US English speakers:
-the Arkansas River is pronounced ar-KAN-zus in the state of Kansas, but AR-kun-saw elsewhere.
-Beaufort is the name of completely different cities in both North and South Carolina, and both were named after the same man, Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort, in the early 1700s. However, the North Carolina city is pronounced BOW-fert, whereas the South Carolina city is pronounced BYOO-fert.
Wow! 😮
Interesting! Thank you for your comment.
Lots of that in last names and place names in North and South Louisiana. North Louisiana was mostly settled by British planters and Scotch-Irish immigrants that migrated from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina. They naturally took some French place names and pronounced them different from French Speakers and other Latin root language speakers that predominately settled South Louisiana. An example of that is Hebert. A small community in North Louisiana. It is pronounced Hee-bert instead of Ay-bear as the surname is pronounced in South Louisiana.
All that tells me is that the people of North Carolina are better educated than the people of South Carolina.😊
Yes, Les Miles the coach of LSU at the time got absolutely ripped when before the game he called the Razorback football team ar-Kansas and he was on his way to paying them a compliment before that gaffe but didn't matter, LSU got beat that day and the Arkansas players really got a kick out of it after the game.
Thanks so very much for. Very informative.
You could do a whole episode on Washington cities. Sequim and Puyallup are both city names that are a test to see if people are local or not.
I've been in Seattle 9 years and some of the names still trip me up (I've practiced the two you mentioned, just to be sure).
Lols
Both look like folk etymology could be useful here. Sequim - sic'em! Puyallup - pull up! (What you scream when your friend can't pull the cork out of the bottle.)
cheers! / CS
I like this lady, she speaks so nicely! And I understand EVERYTHING she says, 😍 thank you!
I'm an America English speaker and I was aware of many of these pronunciations. I enjoyed your attention to detail on how to correctly pronounce these words. My grandmother was an English teacher and would always correct us when we mispronounced words like this.
One small correction.. Tucson is not the capital of Arizona 11:04, it's actually Phoenix.
Americans never pronounce cities in other countries correctly, why should I learn the correct pronounciuation of American towns?
The sound of 't' is like a soft 'r', confusing, but is American English
@maritaschweizer1117 No one cares whether or not can pronounce them. Why would we care what you say if you’re not communicating with us? Btw, how do you know if “Americans” (like there 340 million of us) never pronounce other cities correctly. What nonsense.
I think Tucson is pronounced in a ridiculous way. Someone should start pronouncing it the right way which would be with a K like Tukson. It reminds me of Texas. So they are probably from the indigenous languages.
@frostflower5555 Why don’t you start that trend? You could even try it in Tucson and see how locals react.😂
So tricky 😅 but thank you this was helpful
4:30 there are some exceptions to this rule. Notably LONG beach and BIG bear
Oh it is very informative topic. Very good job your doing.
Thank You Very Much Lisa ❤
I thought she were Ann Cook!
Giant thanks! I love you!!! 😍😍😍
A small town in Colorado. Saguache pronounced suh-WATCH. A Native American name meaning water at the blue earth. Also Colorado is pronounced differently than it’s spelled.
Not to mention, it's Bew-na Vista not Bway-nah Vista. Buena Vista in Colorado.
Please teach people that the "t" in often is silent as it is in the word soften. Thanks.
Or often.
Had no idea about Tucson's pronunciation! Thank you so much!
But Tucson is NOT the capital of Arizona. That's Phoenix.
Tucson's nickname is "the Old Pueblo" because it is one of the oldest continually inhabited areas in North America, its resident people, the Tohono O'odham (translates as "desert people" or "people of the desert," formerly called the "Papago" by the Spanish), being local to this area all the way back to circa 500 AD. The Tohono O'odham had named the area "Chuk' son" from which came the name "Tucson" by those who didn't share their language.
I am not American but I think Tucson is pronounced in a ridiculous way. Someone should start pronouncing it the right way which would be with a K like Tukson. It reminds me of Texas. So they are probably from the indigenous languages.
I'm loving these explanations.
Her aim is... hers. I have heard American people pronounce these places differently
Yeah, this video was useless to me
Tucson really got me. Thanks!
When I was younger, I pronounced Seattle as "seetle" because "Seattle" has "Seat" in it, and the word "seat" is pronounced as "seet", so I thought the name of the city was pronounced like that.
x2 😊😊
Thank you so much!
After watching this amazing video, I realize that the United States of America is a country of everyone. It doesn't belong to any specific group of people. Just look at how the name of cities are pronounced.
its not a country its a disease
USA is definitely not a country of everyone. It is a country of US citizens with different ethnic backgrounds, but common, primarily European, Judeo Christian culture. This modus operandi made us prosper and we should work hard to preserve it.
@xgx899 And as you demonstrate, we also have a few xenophobic bigots!
@robertduklus6555 Good. stay out please, as you may be contaminated with happiness and too much freedom.
@fredglazer2913 Call it what you want, but it is nevertheless true. Coming from a Latino American. This country wouldn't have become as successful as it has if it weren't the way it came to be. And it isn't a "few" that agree with that, but the majority.
Super interesting what you're telling ❤
This video helped me a lot
Cattle near Seattle sounds so cute!
I worked in the downtown Seattle federal building. It's a big city, but one day a coyote was chased into our building and ended up in one of our elevators. He was safely removed. Cattle in Seattle made me laugh too.
@PennyHays44 That's funny, thank you. I live in a very populated area, but we see some wild animals from time to time, sometimes where you don't expect them. A while ago, we had a black bear invasion. I did not see them, but people reported a few encounters in nearby towns; it includes our home and school. They say it did not happen for a hundred years or so. Sometimes, we see a peregrine falcon. One time, I saw it in the city downtown. I don't count less rare but interesting animals: beavers, muskrats, coyotes, foxes, skunks, raccoons, voles, squirrels, rabbits, snakes, birds...
@PennyHays44you should be glad it wasn't a skunk.
@scottmcrawford «you should be glad it wasn't a skunk.» I live in the area where I often face skunks. They are absolutely calm and safe. You can come really close and observe them without any risk of being attacked; an animal will keep doing its business. They are very cute, too.
@Micro-Moogoing into an office building, it surely would have made a stink, though.
So interesting, bravo
11:35 we don't stress the first syllable of Arizona, we stress the third. AriZOna. Born in Connecticut, lived in Arizona, now reside in California.
Same here. Born in CT, lived in AZ. Just like Ne-VAH-da.
Thanks teacher, I'm from Arusha Tanzania
There is a city in Minnesota called Wayzata. However, it’s pronounced “why-zetta”, and not how it’s spelled. So many people innocently pronounce it incorrectly.
Amazing!! Thanks!!
As a mater of fact, Alburquerque (that should be the correct spelling) was named by spaniards after a villge in Extremadura, spain, quite interesting because of its medieval castle, the so-called castillo de luna, and being possession of the templar knights during the reconquest
Albuquerque, the armpit of the Southwest.
It is pronounce: Al-bur-quer-que.
Of course after all, it's a spanish word. This spanish village was a celtic settlement that later on was occupied by the romans, 2000 years ago , calling it albus Quercus, meaning , white oak.
@kaylaelizabeth1640. That WAS the correct pronunciation of the NM city when it was first founded, but in the mid to late 19th century it was changed by dropping the first r to make it easier to pronounce. The original Spanish town it was named after has kept the original spelling and pronunciation but the city in NM has not.
@Javier-f9das far as I remember my school latin querque is latin for oak! 😊
I always find interesting , if not fascinating , to learn the historical background that made the sounds of geographical names, states, cities, roads, streets. Well done video 👍
As someone who’s spent a little time in Boise, ID, I think you’re mispronouncing the city's name. At around 10:31 in the video, it sounds like you’re saying “boy-ZEE,” but natives and longtime locals pronounce it BOY-see (boi’ sē).
The name comes from early French-Canadian trappers, who called the nearby river “la rivière boisée,” meaning “the wooded river” or “the tree-lined river.” That’s also where Boise gets its nickname, “The City of Trees.”
Thank you for this enlightenment
But I heard her say Boy-see🤔
@itiswithinyou She did the first time, but the second time, there was more of a 'z' sound. If you want lots of mispronounced French names, go to Idaho. I grew up there and we have a few. :)
thank you so much.
Thank you for this video!👍🏼
Las Vegas = Lost Wages.
Chicago = shytown.
Quercus = Latin name for oak: Quercus suber = cork oak. Alba, of course is white.
I started interesting american accent because of you.
Thanks
3:18 Little addition: The new settlers first called the place New Amsterdam. When the Brits took it from the Dutch, they changed it to New York.
One of the famous neighborhoods in New York City is called Harlem, which is a region in the Netherlands.
@davidcarey6427 Yes,Harlem is a small, nice city in the Netherlands.
Great video. Thank you!
The stress is on the 3rd syllable of Ar-i-ZO-na, a Spanish-origin word meaning "dry area" (Native Spanish speakers would pronounce the Z with a lisp.). Also, the formerly French settlement surrounding the mouth of the Mississippi River is pronounced LOSE-ee-AN-a.
Not "a lisp" It is a differentiation of the S sound. Z is the antagonist of S, that's why they're written opposite each other. What's the point of pronouncing them the same?
It always amazes me how you all think its a lisp when it is just a different way to pronounce it.
GOD bless you teacher 🙏 great job
If you come to Albuquerque, make a left turn....it's traditional...
Maybe Bugs will finally meet you there. :)
Useful , thank you .
Albuquerque is also a Spanish last name and is pronounced very differently in Spanish than how it is pronounced in American English. The "que" is pronounced like the Spanish "Que" (What) as in "Que pasa?" ("What is happening?"), or like "keh" as in "meh," and the "R' is rolled, so it sounds like "Ahlbookehrrkeh."
It is also a Portuguese family name and consequently a Brazilian one too! The Spanish and Portguese pronunciations also have some differences.
Brillant, thank you!
I live in Oregon. It is shocking to me that people do not know how to say the name of my state. Willamette is another name for the valley just west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. My sister would say Eugene with the emphasis on the first syllable instead of the last. Sigh.
How would they know if they don't live there?
When I was taught the names of the states, as a child, I was taught the wrong pronunciation of 'Oregon' (also incorrectly stated by the hundreds of adults around me) and was not corrected until in my thirties. Without the internet in those days, and people being local to far flung places so distant from you, we had no way of knowing. I always pronounced 'Eugene' with the emphasis on the second syllable: I have no idea if that is correct or wrong.
@cacatr4495 German here, sometimes we run around with faulty pronounciations, and I understand that non-natives (like me) make a lot mistakes. I'm always mixing up BE and AE pronounciations. But at least I try, and I always get understood. I believe (without checking), 'Oregon' is pronounced ORREg'n, and I would stress the 2nd syllable of 'Eugene' as well (youGEENE). Why? Because nearly all English native-speakers I've heard so far, pronounce the German "Eugen" this way, although it is utterly wrong. And then comes the American around, asking me WHY we don't say 'Munich' to 'Munich'..., why we have such a strange name for it..., oh dear...
Molto interessante! Grazie😃
Thanks for sharing this video ❤❤❤
코네티컷 의 인디언 발음 쿠인내터콧 은 한국말로 큰냇터곳 즉 큰 강가 주변 이란 뜻 이랍니다. 많은 인디언 말에서 나온 주 이름이 한국 말로 해석 가능합니다
Very interesting connection 👍🏻
@rheinhartsilvento2576 if you have more information abut relationship between korean n state name I gonna pass you more
Your pronunciation is so perfect, it is a great pleasure to watch and listen to you! Thank you!
It's a pity you didn't show us how to pronounce Winnemucca, Nevada.
Yea, I think it is Winousmochas.
And there's the question of which syllable do you emphasize. I always stressed the third as in Win-uh-MUCK-a, but a gentleman I knew who was born and raised there told me that the stress is actually on the first syllable. So WIN-uh-muck-a. I guess it's similar to whether you pronounce Boise as Boi-zee or Boi-see 😅
I've always wondered why 'Borough' is written 'boro'
A little correction, teacher: At 6:35 you located Albuquerque, Spain, near the border with Portugal. 👍However, it showed a photo of Segovia, near Madrid! 👎
The picture doesn’t change my pronunciation😅.
@danutanowak7746 Ok, we all make mistakes, that's not the point. And btw only YOU improve your pronunciation. 😉
@s@scostz😅
She makes mistakes too.
You have "sharp [good] eyes" to recognize the photo of Segovia! 👍🏻👍🏻
This is a great video . Thank you...👍🏽🙏🏽
6:45 Connecticut has the same meaning as my country's name: TOGO.
There is a current Connecticut lawmaker from Togo,... he must be felling much at home there😂😂😂
Interesting.
Yes, I have difficulty of saying *Massachusetts*
0:45 - " So I AM CONFUSION....👆🏻Why is this one Kansas? 👆🏻But this one is not Arr-Kansas?! AMERICA EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN! WhAt Do YoU MeAn It ArKaNsOoOw?!"
It should be :So I m confused
Arkansas; there was much confusion; some wanted with "s", others without, so in 1881 the arkansas government decided the actual pronounce for the State, but the river arkansas and arkansas city are pronounced with "s". Russian had problems with Sant Petersburg, so they called Sant Petersburg the city, but the country Leningrad.
She did explained this in the video, just watch it :D It's at 7:39 if you need help finding it.
Wow..... Thanks for the informative video...
It feels like there’s a Des Moines in every US state)))
Weirdly there is also a lot of places called Salem in different US states.
I loved this class! Thank you from Brazil!
Why do you not pronounce Detroit as [detrua]?
probably the same reason why they dont say "Orleans" with the French pronunciation