Place names that should be spelt differently according to pronounciation

[CNGL-Leudimin]

A few days ago and in light of some maps of the least populated counties, I had to check the outlier in Georgia. That county, Taliaferro, surprised me for two things: It is directly on I-20 (and thus I would have expected it to be more populated) and its pronounciation. If I were to guess from the latter, I would say it would be written "Toliver" instead.

Other examples would include any places ending in -cester besides Cirencester in the UK (the "ce" part should go away) and Buena Vista, Colorado, which really should be "Biuna Vista" so that it doesn't sound bad to Spanish speakers like me. Not to mention if we start with non-English speaking countries (most notably Łódź, pretty much straightforward in its native Polish but its English exonym should be something like "Woodge"). Any other notable examples?

[Big John]

Worcester MA

[1995hoo]

The county in Georgia is pronounced that way because it's named for Benjamin Taliaferro, a colonel during the Revolution who pronounced it as "Toliver." He was originally from Virginia and settled in Georgia after the war. Insofar as I'm aware, he was not related to Confederate General William Taliaferro, who pronounced his last name the same way. The latter Taliaferro was rector of William & Mary. My brother's first-year dorm there was named for him but, given the current fad of renaming things, now has a new name.

In terms of the OP's query, Buena Vista, Virginia, is another example where the first word is not pronounced as in Spanish. Rio Road in Charlottesville is not pronounced like the city in Brazil; rather, it's pronounced with a long "i," like referring to rye bread with an "o" on the end.

[GaryV]

It was once noted that a phonetical pronunciation of Gratiot Ave (metro Detroit) could not be printed in a family newspaper.

A number of these "mis"-spellings result from a place name that comes from a different language, and eventually the locals who don't speak that language morph the sounds into their own language.

That doesn't explain English place name pronunciations though. How does Derby become "darby"?

[LilianaUwU]

Don't get me started on the botched pronunciations of French names in the US.

[1995hoo]

Then, of course, there is this town in England that is not named for, nor pronounced like, a part of the male anatomy.

[kirbykart]

Skaneateles, NY
Ischua, NY
Anything "Schuyler"

And one that maybe can't be spelled any differently, but I have to bring up Napoli (nuh-POLE-eye), NY.

[MATraveler128]

Leicester, Massachusetts

[kphoger]

Texas has plenty.  Here are a couple of ones with a confusing final letter:

Bronte — Pronounced brahnt (neither brohnt nor brahntee.  Should probably be spelled Bront, except that it's named for Charlotte Brontë.

Boerne — Pronounced burnee (not born).  Should probably be spelled Bernie, except that it's named for Ludwig Börne.

[jlam]

Colorado has a lot of them (mostly poor Spanish pronunciations):

Del Norte — Pronounced del nort (not the typical pronunciation of del nortay)

Huerfano — Pronounced warfuhno (not the typical pronunciation of wearfuhno)

Louisville — Pronounced looissvill (not Kentucky's pronunciation)

Monte Vista — Pronounced montuh visstuh (not the typical pronunciation of montay veestuh)

Rio Grande — Pronounced reeoh grand (not the typical pronunciation of reeoh granday)

Of course, that's just a few.

[kphoger]

uh

This is a sound that basically does not exist in Spanish.

Louisville — Pronounced looissvill (not Kentucky's pronunciation)

So how should it be pronounced, then?  If anything, Kentucky's should change.

Rio Grande — Pronounced reeoh grand (not the typical pronunciation of reeoh granday)

I can easily forgive this pronunciation.  It used to bug me a lot, but I'm now at the point that even I say it as reeoh grand.  Even though the river was probably first named the Río Grande by a Spanish-Mexican conquistador, the river is not called that in Mexico.  In Mexico, it's been known as the Rio Bravo for just as long—since the 1500s.  So, in my mind anyway, "Rio Grande" is actually the American name for the river (it never caught on in Mexico), so we can pronounce it however we like.

[1995hoo]

The references to the Rio Grande prompted me to think of Isle Royale in Michigan. "Royale" is pronounced like "Royal," to the point where I've seen the name of both the island and the national park misspelled as "Isle Royal," presumably by people who heard the name but had not seen it written. I've also heard it mispronounced with "Royale" having the more French-like pronunciation you might expect from seeing the word.

The reference to Louisville made me think of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. It has a very plain British pronunciation as if it were spelled "Lewisburg." I'm sure that's because the British seized it from the French during the Seven Years' War. The first part, pronouncing "Louis" as "Lewis," doesn't strike me as odd at all, but I find pronouncing "-bourg" as plain "-burg" to be weird.

[mgk920]

Don't get me started on Wisconsin . . . for example, should 'Waupaca, WI' be spelled 'Waupacka, WI'?

Mike

[Takumi]

Stanton, Virginia (The silent U is a mystery that baffles out of towners to this day)

Mebane, NC is "mebbin", not "me bane"

[tmoore952]

Who's to say they should be spelt differently? It's probably perfectly OK in the originating language. English has a lot of words and place names derived from other languages.

From my experiences in Iceland, at least there aren't many (if any) US place names derived from that language. That language is a whole other ballgame.

[golden eagle]

Don't get me started on the botched pronunciations of French names in the US.

Like Versailles (ver-sales), KY or Marseilles (mar-sales), IL.

[golden eagle]

The county in Georgia is pronounced that way because it's named for Benjamin Taliaferro, a colonel during the Revolution who pronounced it as "Toliver." He was originally from Virginia and settled in Georgia after the war. Insofar as I'm aware, he was not related to Confederate General William Taliaferro, who pronounced his last name the same way. The latter Taliaferro was rector of William & Mary. My brother's first-year dorm there was named for him but, given the current fad of renaming things, now has a new name.

In terms of the OP's query, Buena Vista, Virginia, is another example where the first word is not pronounced as in Spanish. Rio Road in Charlottesville is not pronounced like the city in Brazil; rather, it's pronounced with a long "i," like referring to rye bread with an "o" on the end.

Also in Georgia, Houston County is pronounced House-ton, rather than the way the city in Texas is pronounced.

[golden eagle]

Colorado has a lot of them (mostly poor Spanish pronunciations):

Del Norte — Pronounced del nort (not the typical pronunciation of del nortay)

Del Norte County, CA is also pronounced this way.

[mgk920]

Don't get me started on the botched pronunciations of French names in the US.

Like Versailles (ver-sales), KY or Marseilles (mar-sales), IL.

'Detroit, MI' or the state name of 'Illinois'.

Mike

[GaryV]

Stanton, Virginia (The silent U is a mystery that baffles out of towners to this day)

The silent U must be a hidden U as well.   

[kphoger]

the state name of 'Illinois'.

Stanton, Virginia (The silent U is a mystery that baffles out of towners to this day)

The silent U must be a hidden U as well.

[Takumi]

Stanton, Virginia (The silent U is a mystery that baffles out of towners to this day)

The silent U must be a hidden U as well.   

It's actually Staunton, but pronounced Stanton. I was making a joke.

[LilianaUwU]

Don't get me started on the botched pronunciations of French names in the US.

Like Versailles (ver-sales), KY or Marseilles (mar-sales), IL.

[JayhawkCO]

Colorado has a lot of them (mostly poor Spanish pronunciations):

Del Norte — Pronounced del nort (not the typical pronunciation of del nortay)

Huerfano — Pronounced warfuhno (not the typical pronunciation of wearfuhno)

Louisville — Pronounced looissvill (not Kentucky's pronunciation)

Monte Vista — Pronounced montuh visstuh (not the typical pronunciation of montay veestuh)

Rio Grande — Pronounced reeoh grand (not the typical pronunciation of reeoh granday)

Of course, that's just a few.

Those are all mild. Buena Vista is just atrocious.

[CtrlAltDel]

Also in Georgia, Houston County is pronounced House-ton, rather than the way the city in Texas is pronounced.

That's the right pronunciation for the spelling though. The Texas one is the outlier here.