How to Pronounce Anything
Search 67,000+ pronunciations of names, surnames, brands and places: phonetic respelling, IPA, audio and accent variants in one place.
Results
This page is the home of the 7ESL pronunciation tools: a searchable guide to saying difficult names, brands and places out loud. Type anything into the search box above - a surname from a class list, a brand from the news, a city from your travel plans - and you get its phonetic respelling, its IPA transcription and a Listen button, drawn from a database of more than 67,000 curated pronunciations that keeps growing.
What you can look up
The collection covers the words that ordinary dictionaries skip. First names and surnames are the heart of it, with tens of thousands of entries from every language background, so you can greet a new colleague or read a register without guessing. Brand names cover the classic traps - Porsche, Hyundai, Hermes, Givenchy, Huawei - split into car, fashion and tech guides. Place names handle the cities that ambush travellers and newsreaders alike, and dedicated guides cover food and drink, foreign words used in English, acronyms, medical terms, dog breeds and trending celebrity names.
How the pronunciations are shown
Every entry gives you the pronunciation three ways. The phonetic respelling (POR-shuh) is the friendliest: read it like normal English and you are already close. The IPA transcription is exact, for learners and teachers who read phonetic script. The Listen button speaks the word aloud. Where American and British speakers differ, the entry lists both variants, and where more than one pronunciation is genuinely accepted - think GIF or Nguyen - the entry says so honestly instead of pretending one is wrong.
Why pronunciation of names matters
Saying someone's name correctly is the fastest sign of respect there is, and saying a brand or city correctly is the fastest way to sound fluent. Most pronunciation mistakes are not about ability; they happen because English spelling gives no reliable clues, especially for words borrowed from other languages. A quick search before a meeting, a call or a lesson removes the guesswork. Each entry links to related pronunciations, and the dedicated tools below let you browse names, brands and places as full lists.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out how to pronounce a name?
Type the name into the search box and pick the matching entry. You get an easy phonetic respelling, the exact IPA transcription, a Listen button, and American and British variants where they differ.
How many pronunciations does the guide include?
Over 67,000 published entries: first names, surnames, place names, brand names, foreign words, acronyms, medical terms, dog breeds and celebrity names. New entries are added continuously.
What is a phonetic respelling?
A spelling that shows the sound using ordinary English letters, like POR-shuh for Porsche or WIN for the most common English pronunciation of Nguyen. Capital letters mark the stressed syllable.
What if a word has more than one accepted pronunciation?
The entry shows every accepted form. Some names and words, such as Nguyen or GIF, genuinely have several correct pronunciations, and pretending otherwise would be misleading.
Is the pronunciation guide free?
Yes, completely free, with no account and no limits. The audio plays directly in your browser.
Includes data from the Open English WordNet and WordNet 3.1, used under their respective open licences.