The State Names That Are Hardest to Pronounce, Mapped

Have you ever struggled to pronounce a name you’re unfamiliar with? You’re not alone—people get plenty of pronunciations wrong, even names that belong to celebrities: Both Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa and pop superstar Chappell Roan’s names recently made a list world’s most frequent mispronunciations. State names aren’t immune, either—in fact, the language learning website Preply has taken a deep dive into which U.S. state names we’re googling “how to pronounce” more than any other.

1. The 20 Hardest-to-Pronounce State Names (Searched by Americans)
2. The Hardest-to-Pronounce State Names, State by State
3. State Name Pronunciations Around the World
4. Hardest to Spell State Names (for Americans)

The 20 Hardest-to-Pronounce State Names (Searched by Americans)

The study came up with a Top 20 list of puzzling state pronunciations, with Arkansas claiming the top spot—perhaps due to people questioning whether or not it rhymes with nearby Kansas. (Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.)

The reason Arkansas has a silent final s is likely due to its etymological roots in a French pronunciation of a plural noun used in relation to the local Quapaw people. How to pronounce the state’s name is not a modern problem, though: Pronunciation first emerging as an issue in the 1800s amid a disagreement between two senators—one of whom preferred the “Ar-kan-saw” pronunciation we use today, while the other preferred to pronounce the final s as written. The situation was finally resolved in 1881, with article 1–4–105 of the state’s official code officially declaring that “the sounding of the terminal ‘s’ is an innovation to be discouraged.”

The troublesome middle a in Nevada led to that state taking second place in the Preply survey. Given that the name can be traced back to the equivalent Spanish word, meaning “snow-covered,” it’s the short-a pronunciation that’s preferred in the U.S.: “Ne-VA-duh,” not “Ne-VAH-duh.”

Oregon came in third in the study (due in part to both confusion over its number of syllables and the pronunciation of its final –gon; Preply advises going with “ORE-uh-g’n”), followed by Illinois in fourth (another silent s issue; use “il-uh-NOY”), and Massachusetts in fifth (you want to say “sits” for that last syllable, not “sets”). Elsewhere in the Top 20, there were strong showings for the infamously trickily-spelled Connecticut (sixth place), Hawaii (in 13th), and Mississippi (17th).

The Hardest-to-Pronounce State Names, State by State

Breaking the pronunciation search data down state by state to identify regional trends produced a new set of results, with New York proving the most frequently Googled state name across the United States, followed by California and Texas.

Besides the fact that all three of these states are highly populated and geographically important hubs, Preply suggests that New York’s wide variation of local accents and pronunciations might also lie behind its position as the most-searched state pronunciation in 19 other states. (New Yorkers themselves, meanwhile, use Google to check the pronunciation of Pennsylvania more than anywhere else.)

State Name Pronunciations Around the World

The study also looked at Google rankings from outside the U.S., with users in the UK searching most often for Connecticut and Oregon; Australians, meanwhile, search for Illinois above Oregon.

The Canadian list was somewhat similar to the American one: Illinois, Arkansas, and Oregon topped the list overall, but Canadians apparently find both Connecticut and Ohio harder to pronounce than Americans.

Hardest to Spell State Names (for Americans)

Preply also looked at the states whose spellings are checked on Google more than any other, with an entirely different set of results.

This time, Hawaii and its final double-i came out on top (although it should really be spelled with a Polynesian okina, ʻ , between them—Hawaiʻi—to represent a glottal stop). Pennsylvania came in second in the spell-checking list, followed by Connecticut in third, Georgia and Tennessee tied in fourth, and Massachusetts in fifth.

Mississippi was ranked in seventh place, Illinois landed just outside the Top 10 in 11th position (sharing a spot with Wisconsin), and again the seemingly straightforward New York came in tied with Montana in 18th.

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