It would be a bit of an understatement to suggest that London is full of places with mispronounced names. After all, we’re the city home to such places as Greenwich, Marylebone, and Southwark. And, sure, many of these pronunciations seem old hat to us Londoners. But when you see the names written out and have never heard them said out loud, the pronunciation is not always obvious! We asked our audience to share which London place names are most often mispronounced, and they didn’t disappoint.
Read on to learn a bit more about the names and perhaps even double-check the pronunciation for yourself. You’ll be confidently chatting about Marylebone until the cows come home with nary a single mispronunciation. And don’t be embarrassed if you spot a place you’ve mispronounced before – we’ve all been there!
Aldwych
Mispronounced: ‘AL-dwitch / AL-dwick’
Pronounced: ‘Ol-dwitch’
Origin: The name derives from a word for a larger area around Aldwych, ‘Lundenwic’ (or ‘London port’), which later became known as the ‘old wich’ (or ‘old port’), and in turn Aldwych.
Beauchamp Place
Unfortunately, your French A-Levels won’t help you with this one, despite its history and spelling.
Mispronounced: ‘Bow-champ Place / Bew-champ Place’
Pronounced: ‘Beach-uhm Place’
Origin: Originally known as Grove Place until 1885, Beauchamp Place was named after an eponymous 16th-century mansion belonging to the Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp. Beauchamp is an old name belonging to three British families, deriving from the French for beautiful/fair field, in turn also drawing from the name of towns in Manche and Somme.
Beckenham
A rule of thumb with British place names: you almost never pronounce ‘ham’ in a name as if you’re talking about the ham you’d find in a sandwich…
Mispronounced: ‘Becken-HAM’
Pronounced: ‘Becken-um’
Origin: Some assume the area was named after the local river ‘Beck’, but it’s more likely the river was named after the area. The name derives from the word for ‘Beohha’s settlement/home’ (Beohha + ham).
Bicester Road
Mispronounced: ‘Bi-sester Road / Bikester Road’
Pronounced: ‘Biss-ter Road’
Origin: Historically known under a variety of related names and different spellings (‘Berncestre’, ‘Biciter’, ‘Bissiter’, and more) the name has unclear origins. It could mean ‘of Beorna’, where Boerna was someone’s name, or it could come from the Latin ‘Bi-cester’, which means ‘the two forts’.
Chiswick
Mispronounced: ‘Chiss-wick’
Pronounced: ‘Chiz-ick’
Origin: Chiswick is a Saxon word that – as you might have already guessed – has a cheese-y meaning. It translates to “cheese farm”.
Covent Garden
Sometimes people just glance at a word before trying to say it, and replace familiar-looking words with words they already know. Thus this particular mispronunciation…
Mispronounced: ‘Convent Garden’
Pronounced: ‘koh-vent Garden’
Origin: The mispronunciation might actually be more accurate than the modern name! The area originally consisted mostly of fields owned by Westminster Abbey (in 1200), and was “referred to as ‘the garden of the Abbey and Convent'”.
Dulwich
Mispronounced: ‘Dull Witch’
Pronounced: ‘Dull-itch’
Origin: Dulwich has had a few spellings (as have most English towns to be fair!), such as Dilwihs, Dullag, and more. The likely origin is “from two old English words, Dill, a white flower, and wihs, meaning a damp meadow, giving a meaning of ‘the meadow where dill grows’.”
Gloucester Road
Mispronounced: ‘Glow-sester / Glaow-sester / Glow-chester’
Pronounced: ‘Glos-tuh’
Origin: Named for Gloucester Lodge, where King George III’s sister-in-law Maria, Duchess of Gloucester, lived until her death. Gloucester in turn roughly translates to ‘bright fort’.
Goodge Street
Mispronounced: ‘Good-gee Street’
Pronounced: ‘Gooj Street’
Origin: Named after the Goodge family, which developed the area, the name likely evolved from “the Breton-Gaelic “Gobha” which translates as ‘the Smith’.”
Greenwich
Mispronounced: ‘Green-witch’
Pronounced: ‘Gren-itch’
Origin: Named by the Saxons, who are responsible for most London place names that end in -wich (town or market) or -ham (homestead), Greenwich translates to “the green place near the river mouth”.
Holborn
Mispronounced: ‘Hole-born’
Pronounced: ‘Hoe-b’n’
Origin: The name comes from the Middle English words for hollow (‘hol’) and a brook (‘bourne’), referring to the River Fleet (which is now largely hidden underground).
Leicester Square
Mispronounced: ‘Lie-ses-tuh Square’
Pronounced: ‘Les-tuh Square’
Origin: Leicester is an oldddd name, stretching back to the city of Leicester. When the Saxons settled there after the Romans they named the place “after the River Soar (then called Leire) and ‘cester’ meaning the Roman ruins.”
Loughborough Junction
Mispronounced: ‘Loff-borrow Junction’
Pronounced: ‘Luff-bruh Junction’
Origin: Named after Henry Hastings, first Baron Loughborough, the word itself “derives from the Anglo Saxon word burgh meaning a town, and, probably, a personal name which became Lough”.
Lowndes Square
Mispronounced: ‘Long-ds Square’
Pronounced: ‘Lounds Square’ (think of the word lounge)
Origin: Named after named after “William Lowndes of Chesham, Secretary to the Treasury of Great Britain in the 18th Century”. The name itself derives from “the Old English word lundr, which means grove.”
Marylebone
Mispronounced: ‘Marry-leh-bone / Maryl-bone’
Pronounced: ‘Mah-li-bone’ or ‘Mah-li-bun’ (this is easily the most contentious inclusion on the list)
Origin: The accepted understanding is that Marylebone was once known as St. Mary-le-Bourne, with a French influence that brings it all together to mean St Mary’s (the church) at the ‘bourne’ (stream/tributary). Another possible origin is that it was originally actually called “St. Mary-la-Bonne which means ‘The Church of St. Mary The Good’ or ‘Our Good Lady’.”
Plaistow
Mispronounced: ‘play-stow / place-toe’
Pronounced: ‘plah-stow’
Origin: derives from ‘Plagestoue’, which means a “place where people gathered to play”.
Ruislip
Mispronounced: ‘Roo-is-lip’
Pronounced: ‘Rye-slip’
Origin: The name dates back to 1086 (and likely even earlier), and likely “derives from the Old English words for ‘rush’ and ‘leap’.”
Southwark
Mispronounced: ‘South-wark’
Pronounced: ‘Suth-ark’
Origin: Originally known as ‘Sudwerca’ and then ‘Suthewark’ before settling into its current identity, Southwark’s name translates into “southern defensive work or fort”. This was due to the area’s defensive positioning in relation to the City.
St. Pancras
Less of a mispronunciation, and more of a misreading, this place’s name is easy enough to pronounce correctly. You just have to read the word properly.
Mispronounced: ‘Saint Pancreas’
Pronounced: ‘Saint Pankras’
Origin: The area started as a small village, and was named after “Saint Pancras, a 14-year-old boy who had converted to Christianity and would not renounce his faith… He is the patron saint of children. St Pancras is a Greek name meaning ‘the one that holds everything’.”
Streatham
Mispronounced: ‘St Reatham / Streethem / Street-HAM’
Pronounced: ‘Stret-um’
Origin: The name comes from the Saxon words for street (strat) and home or settlement (ham).
Tottenham
Mispronounced: ‘Totten-HAM’
Pronounced: ‘tot-nem’
Origin: The area is “believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota’s hamlet became Tottenham. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Toteham.”
Walthamstow
Thought being able to pronounce our famous River Thames would help you here? Nope! This one actually caught me completely unaware – before writing this I pronounced the ‘th’ in the middle the same way I pronounce the ‘th’ in Thames. I’d been mispronouncing it for years!
Mispronounced: ‘Walt-uhm-stow / Wall-thayme-stow’
Pronounced: ‘wol-them-stow’
Origin: Walthamstow’s name derives from previous records as Wilcumestowe (“the Place of Welcome”), and has also been recorded as Wilcumestou.
Wealdstone
Mispronounced: ‘weld-stun / weld-stone’
Pronounced: ‘weeld-stun’
Origin: Wealdstone is named after its eponymous stone, and the name itself comes from Old English words for wood or forest (weald) and stone.
Westminster
Another case of reading a word too quickly and inserting letters into the name that aren’t there!
Mispronounced: ‘West-minis-ter’
Pronounced: ‘West-min-stuh’
Origin: The area takes its name from the “Abbey Church of St. Peter’s, the ‘Minster’ in the ‘West’.”
Worcester Park
A helpful one for starting to learn how to pronounce the famously mispronounced condiment – Worcestershire Sauce.
Mispronounced: ‘War-sester Park’
Pronounced: ‘Woo-stah Park’
Origin: “The area takes its name from the 4th Earl of Worcester who was appointed Keeper of the Great Park in 1606.” Where the name Worcester came from is disputed, but it dates back to as early as the 1100s, with the Worcester family in Worcestershire.
So, there you have it. A handy guide to some of the mispronounced place names in London. Be sure to memorise the correct pronunciations and quiz your friends when you next see them!
Particular thanks to the Pronounce London website, which was an invaluable source of pronunciations and fun facts. If you can think of a London place name, they’ve got a pronunciation guide for you!