The Hard To Pronounce Town In Every Single State

The town of Pukwana, South Dakota is home to 285 residents and the “Puk U” bar. It’s not hard to pronounce once you hear it pronounced for the first time (Puck-WAH-na), but considering that it got this name after having been originally called “Carlton,” we felt it deserved an “honorable mention.”

Tennessee: Ooltewa

Ooltewah, Tennessee, is pronounced almost nothing like it sounds. We could go on about the silent T or the phantom D, but, instead, we’re just going straight to the big reveal. The correct pronunciation is Oo-da-wah. 

Texas: Nacogdoches

Remember we were talking about Natchitoches, Louisiana, which is pronounced NAH-code-ish? And we told you not to confuse it with the similarly named town in Texas? Well, here’s where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. The similarly-named town in Texas, Nacogdoches, is pronounced NAH-coh-DOE-chess. Really, it’s not all that hard to pronounce, at least compared to the one in Louisiana, if you remember that the G is silent.

Utah: Duchesne

Considering that French roots abound in Vermont, it’s awfully strange that Montpelier, which is Vermont’s capital city, is pronounced as if it never so much as met a French person. Here’s how you’d say it in France: Mont-pel-YAY. Here’s how you say it in Vermont: Mont-PEEL-yer. Fun fact: there’s a Montpelier in Idaho, which is pronounced the same way it’s pronounced in Vermont (because it was named by Brigham Young, who was born in Vermont), and a Montpelier, Iowa, which is also pronounced the Vermont-way (because it was settled by people who came from Vermont).

Virginia: McGaheysville

McGaheysville, Virginia, is an unincorporated community located in Rockingham County. Just looking at it makes us cringe with the mispronunciation-shivers. That said, it makes us think of Matthew McConaughey, which is always kind of nice. Here’s how you pronounce it: Muh-GAK-eez, which is not even close to how it’s spelled. Speaking of spelling, see if you’re up to the challenge of spelling these spelling-bee words.

Washington: Puyallup

Puyallup, Washington, which is pronounced Pew-AL-up, is the home of the best state fair in Washington State. In fact, the fair is sometimes known as the Puyallup State Fair.

West Virginia: Iaeger

Does anyone want to buy a vowel? Because Iaeger, West Virginia has plenty. Pronounced as it is in West Virginia, it’s got only two syllables: Yay-gur. 

Wisconsin: Oconomowoc

Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, is described by some as an idyllic and charming city with a quaint downtown and an abundance of lakes on all sides of it. What it also has is a name that no one who doesn’t live there can pronounce. “I think people could be intimidated by looking at it, seeing it all spelled out with a bunch of O’s,” said Oconomowoc’s economic development manager, Bob Duffy, to the Wausau Daily Herald.For the record, it’s pronounced Oh-CON-oh-moh-wok.

Wyoming: Kemmerer