Pronunciation

Pronunciation guide

How to pronounce selected London place and street names

The correct pronun­ci­a­tions of some London place names are totally unguess­able. For example, outsiders can’t reason­ably be expected to know how to pronounce ‘Southwark’ or ‘Beauchamp Place’ or those Thames islets called ‘eyots’.

Even official sources make mistakes. When they were first intro­duced, the recorded announce­ments on the tube got east London’s Plaistow wrong. A chorus of cockney complaints prompted London Under­ground to implement a swift correction.

Some pronun­ci­a­tions that are obvious to Brits can be baffling to everyone else. The American writer Jean Hannah Edelstein has blogged about her time as a London resident: “The first place I lived was Great Dover Street, an LSE hall of residence in Borough, which was pronounced ‘burra’, which I only learned when I got to the tube stop and heard it announced. Which I couldn’t quite believe.”

Certain well-known London addresses can be famously difficult for foreign visitors to artic­u­late properly. Leicester and Grosvenor Squares are classic instances. And this author has eastern European friends who speak excellent English yet are incapable of saying ‘Thames’ right.

In the past, more place names had quirky pronun­ci­a­tions than is the case today – and the list below mentions several ‘lost’ vari­a­tions. Nowadays, many London local­i­ties have rela­tively transient popu­la­tions and newcomers often simply pronounce place names as they’re written. Only when a peculiar pronun­ci­a­tion is deeply entrenched is it likely to survive.

The suggested pronun­ci­a­tions are for standard London English rather than hardcore cockney (in which, for example, Rother­hithe becomes ‘Rovverive’), but a few cockney vari­a­tions are mentioned where they are partic­u­larly characteristic.

Some of the listed places may seem curious inclu­sions. For example, how else could ‘Cheam’ be pronounced? Guidance in such appar­ently unam­biguous cases is usually given because the author has noticed people arriving at Hidden London via a search for something like “how to pronounce Cheam”, without at that time being able to find the answer they sought. Alder­s­gate, Fitzrovia and Lead­en­hall are other examples of inclu­sions based on past user searches. And given the many quirks of London speech, who can be blamed for wanting to check whether some place name is really pronounced as it’s written?

Finally, it’s worth bearing in mind that Londoners were pioneers of the non-rhotic accent, so the ‘r’ is generally not heard at all in place names such as Anerley, Deptford or Earls Court.

Please make contact if you’d like to suggest a place name that should be added to this guide.

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In the simplified pronunciation column below, stressed syllables are capitalised.
In both pronunciation columns, a superscript letter indicates one that is optionally or barely articulated and a rotated ‘e’ (ə) indicates a schwa – the indeterminate vowel sound. For the full set of standard phonemic symbols for English (as used here), please see this page.

Place or street name	Simpli­fied pronun­ci­a­tion	Phonemic tran­scrip­tion	Notes and comments
Agar Town	AY-gar town	ˈeɪɡɑ: taʊn
Alder­s­gate	ALL-dəz-gate	ˈɔːldəzɡeɪt
Aldwych	ALL-dwitch	ˈɔːldwɪtʃ	Unlike Dulwich, Greenwich and Woolwich, the ‘w’ is pronounced
Anerley	AN-ə-lee	ˈænəlɪ	Rhymes with ‘mannerly’ – see Edward Lear’s limerick
Aperfield	AP-ə-feeld	ˈæpəˌ­fiːld
Arnos Grove	AH-noss grove	ˈɑːnɒs ɡrəʊv	‘Arnos’ is pronounced as though it never had an apos­trophe – but it did
Beauchamp Place	BEE‑chəm place	ˈbiːtʃəm pleɪs
Becontree	BECK-ən-tree	ˈbɛkən­triː	Hidden London reluc­tantly accepts that some residents prefer to pronounce it BEE‑k​​ən‑​​tree
Belgravia	bel-GRAY-vee‑ə	bɛlˈɡreɪvɪə
Berkeley Square	BAHK-lee square	ˈbɑːklɪ skwɛə
Bermondsey	BER-mən-dzee	ˈbɜːməndzɪ
Borough	BURRa	ˈbʌrə
Bow	boh	bəʊ	Rhymes with ‘go’, and the same applies to the church of St Mary-le-Bow
Bowes Park	boze park	bəʊz pɑːk
Brentham	BREN-təm	ˈbrɛntəm	Despite the indis­putable logic of the ‘BREN-təm’ pronun­ci­a­tion, some locals appar­ently say ‘BREN-thəm’, which Hidden London finds baffling.
Bron­des­bury	BRONDZ‑bəry	ˈbrɒndzbərɪ
Buck­ingham Palace	BUCK-ing-əm palace	ˈbʌkɪŋəm ˈpælɪs	Like almost every place name ending in ‘ham’ (and London has dozens of them), the ‘h’ is silent in British English
Cadogan Gate, Lane, Place, Square, etc.	kə-DUG-ən	kəˈdʌɡən
Carshalton	car‑SHAWL‑tən	kɑːˈʃɔːltən	Formerly case-HOR-tən (appar­ently)
Castelnau	KAH‑səl‑nau	ˈkɑːsəlnɔː	Usually pronounced as in ‘neither castle nor city’ but minori­ties prefer a couple of French-influ­enced variations
Cheam	cheem	tʃiːm
Chess­ington	CHESS-ing-tən	ˈtʃɛsɪŋtən	Some locals prefer CHEZZ-ing-tən
Cheyne Row, Gardens, Walk, etc.	CHAY-nee	ˈtʃeɪnɪ
Chiswick	CHIZ-ik	ˈtʃɪzɪk	Rhymes with ‘physic’
Chiswick Eyot	CHIZ-ik ait	ˈtʃɪzɪk eɪt	The words ‘eyot’ and ‘ait’ are used inter­change­ably to denote the small islands of the Thames and the two are pronounced iden­ti­cally, as in ‘eight’ (‘eyot’ can also be pronounced ‘ite’ but Hidden London believes this makes an already confusing situation even worse)
Clapham	CLAP-əm	ˈklæpəm
Clerken­well	CLAHK-ən-well	ˈklɑːkənwɛl
Cock­fos­ters	COCK-foss-təz	ˈkɒk­fɒstəz	Pronounced exactly as it looks – unlike, say, Cock­burn’s port (which is pronounced Co’burns)
Colney Hatch	KOH-nee hatch	ˈkəʊnɪ hætʃ
Conduit Street	CON-dwit street	ˈkɒndwɪt striːt	Purists say CUN-dit but ordinary people say CON-dwit or CON-dew-it
Coulsdon	COOLZ-dən	ˈkuːlzdən	Purists insist it should be COALZ‑dən
Covent Garden	COV-ənt GAR‑dən or CUV‑ənt GAR‑dən	ˈkɒvənt ˈɡɑːdən or ˈkʌvənt ˈɡɑːdən	It’s posher but less correct (Hidden London believes) to pronounce ‘Covent’ as in ‘coven’ or ‘covenant’
Cubitt Town	KEW-bit town	ˈkjuːbɪt taʊn
Cudham	KUD-əm	ˈkʌdəm
Dagenham	DAG-ən‑əm	ˈdæɡənəm	As in similar place names, such as Tottenham, cockneys barely vocalise the mid-central vowel at all
Dalston	DAWL-stən	ˈdɔːlstən	The emphasis on the imaginary ‘w’ increases with one’s cockneyness
De Beauvoir	də BOH-vwar	də ˈbəʊvwɑːr	Pronounced də BEE-vər by purists but in Anglo-French style by almost all locals
Deptford	DEPT‑fəd	ˈdɛptfəd	Strictly, there should be no ‘p’ sound at all, but it has for some while been creeping back in because of the trend towards pronouncing place names as they are spelt
Dulwich	DULL-itch	ˈdʌlɪtʃ
Eastcote	EAST-coat	ˈiːsts-koʊt	Alter­na­tively EAST-kət
Eltham	EL-təm	ˈɛltəm
Erith	EAR-ith	ˈɪərɪθ
Euston	YOO-stən	ˈjuːstən
Feltham	FEL-təm	ˈfɛltəm
Fitzrovia	fitz-RO-veea	fɪtsˈrəʊvɪə
Friern Barnet	FRY-ən BAR-nit	ˈfraɪən ˈbɑːnɪt	‘Friern’ is usually pronounced as in ‘friar’, but some locals prefer FREE‑ən
Fulham	FULL-əm	ˈfʊləm
Gidea Park	GID-ee‑ə park	ˈgɪdɪə pɑːk
Gloucester Road, Place, Square, Terrace, etc.	GLOSS-tə	ˈɡlɒstə
Goodge Street	[see note]	guːdʒ striːt or ɡʊ̈dʒ striːt	‘Goodge’ is usually pronounced to rhyme with ‘Scrooge’ – but some opt for a shorter (near-close) ‘oo’ sound, as in ‘good’
Gower Street	GOW‑ə street	ˈɡaʊə striːt	‘Gower’ is pronounced to rhyme with ‘power’
Greenwich	GRIN-idge or GREN-itch	ˈɡrɪnɪdʒ or ˈɡrɛnɪtʃ	… or some blend of the two, as long as it’s never ‘green’ and never ‘wich’
Grosvenor Square, Street, Hill, etc.	GRO‑vənə	ˈgrəʊvənə
Hainault	HAY-nawlt or HAY-nolt	ˈheɪnɔːlt or ˈheɪnəʊlt
Harmondsworth	HARM-əndz-wəth	ˈhɑːməndzwəθ	Formerly often rendered without the middle syllable (HARMZ‑wəth) but nowadays pronounced pretty much as it looks
Havering-atte-Bower	HAY‑vəring AT‑tee bowr	ˈheɪvərɪŋ ˌætɪ ˌbaʊə
Haver­stock Hill	HAV-ə-stok hill	ˈhævəstɒk hɪl
Heneage Lane	HEN-idge lane	ˈhɛnɪdʒ leɪn
Holborn	HO-bən	ˈhəʊbən	Some Londoners artic­u­late the ‘l’, but Hidden London disapproves
Homerton	HOM-ə-tən	ˈhɒmətən
Hounslow	HOWNZ-loh	ˈhaʊnzləʊ
Isleworth	EYE‑zəl‑wəth	ˈaɪzəlwəθ
Islington	IZ-ling-tən	ˈɪzlɪŋtən
Jermyn Street	JER-min street	ˈdʒɜːmɪn striːt	There is also a ‘German’ school of thought (i.e. JER-mən) while tiny minori­ties advocate jer-MAIN and JAR-mən
Lamorbey	LAM-ə-bee	ˈlæməbɪ
Lansbury	LANZ‑bə-ree	ˈlænzbərɪ	American readers may pronounce Angela Lans­bury’s surname as something like LANZ-beh-ree but it takes a more contracted form in London English – and the same applies to this estate in Poplar, which is named after her grandfather
Lead­en­hall	LED-ən‑haul	ˈlɛdənˌhɔːl
Leamouth	LEE-məth	ˈliːməθ	Like almost all British place names ending in ‘mouth’, the second syllable is pronounced with the inde­ter­mi­nate vowel sound
Leighton House	LAY-tən house	ˈleɪtən haʊs
Leman Street	LEE-mən street	ˈliːmən striːt	Many locals prefer LEM-ən, as in ‘lemon’
Leicester Square, Street, Place, Court, etc.	LESS-tə	ˈlɛstə
Lewisham	LOO-ish-əm	ˈluːɪʃəm	Formerly LOO-iss-həm
Leyton	LAY-tən	ˈleɪtən
Leyton­stone	LAY-tən-stone	ˈleɪtənˌs­toʊn	Hidden London doesn’t object to the alter­na­tive ending ‘-stən’ instead of ‘-stone’, but some people do
Limehouse	LIME-house	ˈlaɪmˌhaʊs	Nowadays pronounced exactly as it looks but formerly rendered by locals as LIE-məss, according to Hidden London reader Jim Golden
Loughton	LOW-​​tən (LOW to rhyme with COW)	ˈlaʊtən	Loughton isn’t in London but it’s on the London Underground
Maida Hill and Maida Vale	MAID‑ə hill and MAID‑ə vale	ˈmeɪdə hɪl and ˈmeɪdə veɪl	Although these local­i­ties indi­rectly take their names from Maida in Calabria, there is no hint of Italian in their London pronun­ci­a­tion, which is simply as in ‘made a hill and made a vale’
Maryle­bone	MA-ree‑li-bən (Marrylibun) or MAR-lee-bən	ˈmærɪlɪbən or ˈmɑːlɪbən	Some author­i­ties do not accept the ‘Marrylibun’ pronun­ci­a­tion but Hidden London finds this baffling as it’s the one most people use
Millwall	MILL-wall	ˈmɪlwɔːl	Pronounced exactly as it looks – but cockneys tend to put more emphasis on the second syllable than might be expected
Northolt	NORTH-olt	ˈnɔːʳθəʊlt
Nower Hill	NOH‑ə hill	ˈnəʊə hɪl	‘Nower’ is pronounced to rhyme with ‘slower’
Osidge	OSS-idge	ˈɒsɪdʒ	Rhymes with ‘sausage’
Pall Mall	PAL mal	ˈpæl ˌmæl	Nowadays pronounced as in ‘pallet’ and ‘mallet’
Petrie Museum	PEE-tree museum	ˈpiːtrɪ mjuːˈzɪəm	Some say otherwise but Hidden London believes ‘Petrie’ should be pronounced as in ‘peach tree’ (but without the ‘ch’)
Penge	penj	pɛndʒ
Pield Heath	peeld heath	piːld hiːθ
Plaistow	PLAAH-stoh (or the posher PLASS‑toh, but never PLAY‑stoh)	ˈplɑːstəʊ	This is the better-known Plaistow, in Newham, but there is also a Plaistow in Bromley, which is usually pronounced PLAY-stoh
Platt’s Eyot	plats ait	plæts eɪt	See the note on Chiswick Eyot, above
Rother­hithe	[see note]	ˈrɒðəhaɪð	‘Rother’ to rhyme with ‘bother’ and ‘hithe’ to rhyme with ‘scythe’
Ruislip	RICE-lip	ˈraɪslɪp
St Martin’s‑le-Grand	sənt MAR-tinz lə GRAND	sənt ˈmɑːtɪnz lə ˌɡrænd	Pronounced English style, with no French influence
St Pancras	sənt PANK-rəss	sənt ˈpæŋkrəs
Savile Row	SAV-əll row	ˈsævəl rəʊ	Some say SAV-ill but Hidden London prefers the rhyme with ‘gavel’
Smitham	[see note]	ˈsmɪðəm	Rhymes with ‘rhythm’
Southall	SOUTH-all	ˈsaʊθɔːl
Southwark	[see note]	ˈsʌðək	Pronounced as in ‘southern’
Streatham	STRET-əm	ˈstrɛtəm
Somers Town	SUM-mərs town	ˈsʌməz taʊn	Pronounced the same as Wandsworth’s Summer­stown
Spital­fields	SPIT-əl-feeldz	ˈspɪtəlfiːldz	Once you know that this place was orig­i­nally the ‘hospital fields’, it’s easy to pronounce it
Stroud Green	strowd green	straʊd ɡriːn	‘Stroud’ rhymes with ‘cloud’ not ‘clued’
Surrey Quays	SURR-ee keys	ˈsʌrɪ kiːz
Thames	temz	tɛmz
Theobalds Road	THE-ə-bauldz road [‘the-’ as in ‘theory’]	ˈθɪəbɔːldz rəʊd	TIB-auldz is (or was) strictly correct – as in the nearby Tybalds estate – but nowadays everyone pronounces it as it looks
Theydon Bois	THAY-dən boyz or boyce	ˈθeɪdən bɔɪz or bɔɪs	Theydon Bois isn’t in London but it’s on the London Underground
Tokyngton	TOKE-ing-tən	ˈtəʊkɪŋtən
Tottenham	TOT-ən‑əm	ˈtɒtənəm	The same applies to Tottenham Court Road, although the names of the district and the street possess only an inci­dental etymo­log­ical connection
Twick­enham	TWIK-ən‑əm	ˈtwɪkənəm
Vauxhall	VOX-hall	ˈvɒksˌhɔːl	Artic­u­la­tion of the ‘h’ ranges from distinct to nonexistent
Waltham­stow	WAWL‑thəm‑stoh	ˈwɔːlθəm­stəʊ	The London Borough of Waltham Forest also takes a ‘th’ sound [as in ‘thanks’ not ‘them’], unlike almost every other London place name ending (or indeed beginning) with ‘tham’, where the ‘h’ is ignored
Wanstead	WONN-stid	ˈwɒnstɪd
Warwick Avenue	WORR-ick AV‑in‑yu	ˈwɒrɪk ˈævɪˌnjuː
Wapping	WOP-ing	ˈwɒpɪŋ	Rhymes with ‘topping’
Wimbledon	WIM‑bəl‑dən	ˈwɪmbəldən
Woolwich	WOOL-idge or WOOL-itch	ˈwʊlɪdʒ or ˈwʊlɪtʃ
Yeading	YED-ing	ˈjɛdɪŋ	Rhymes with ‘bedding’
Yiewsley	YOU-zlee	ˈjuːzlɪ	Rhymes with the British pronun­ci­a­tion of ‘muesli’