Do you live in the Tennessee towns of Milan or Santa Fe? If so, you can probably recognize a visitor just by the way they (incorrectly) say the name of your hometown. And you’re not alone – there are many places in our great state that only true Tennesseans know how to pronounce. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Milan (pronounced MY-lin)
- Santa Fe (Santa Fee)
- Maury County and Maury City (Murry)
- Poga (Pogee)
- Lebanon (Leb-nun)
- Finger (Fanger)
- Ooltewah (Oo-da-wah)
- Lafayette (Luh-fayette)
- Shelbyville, Fayetteville, Nashville and other “villes” (-vul)
Do you live in a town that most people mispronounce? Leave a comment with others we may have missed.
Fayetteville – Fatevul
Maryville – Murvul
Shelbyville – Shebbyvul
We also pronounce our home town of Shelbyville Shebvul
I moved to Spring Hill and one guy said it is pronounced, Spring Gall!
I live in Pulaski, Tn,,, county is Giles,, but they pronounce it ( Jiles)
Giles is pronounced properly. G makes a Juh sound.
Or do you mispronounce Georgia as Guh-eo-Guh-ia
G isn’t pronounced that way, necessarily. It depends on what follows.
The English Language accepted pronunciation of the letter G in some words is a hard G (G as in Get), but in others it is a soft G (G as in Gentleman).
As a common rule, if the letter after the G is A, O, or U, the G is a hard G. If the letter after the G is E, I or Y, the G is a soft G. There are exceptions, of course. But Giles is not one of them.
Somebody who pronounces “Giles” with a hard G is mispronouncing the word.
How about Harriman (Harry-man)
Hair-uh-mun
Beersheba (bersheba)
woodbury (woodberry)
We moved to and have lived in Baileyton, TN for 10 years. We still chuckle when we are corrected by a local because we do not pronounce it “Belton”. (Tee Hee)
Younses ever been to Chuckey? I’m just up off exit 44!
Transplant here. Baileyton and mosheim are fun but being introduced to younses takes the cake.
I live in Mosheim (pronounced Moss-eim) it is a little town in east TN between Morristown and Greeneville. I love my little town, little towns can make a big difference.
Melissa McMurray
The first one that came to mind was: Lafayette(la-fay-ette) pronounced like its spelled in Macon Co. Then Cairo(kayro) in Sumner Co.
Gallatin is gal-tun
Westmoreland is west mo lun
Red Boiling springs is Red bowlin sprangs
Most people that live in carthage pronounce it carthridge, and they say gornsvul instead of gordonsville
Scioto (Unicoi County) is pronounced locally as Sye-o-thee
Maury City is pronounced Murray City
Brownsville is pronounced Browvul
Lexington is pronounced Lexton
I forgot one. Many people pronounce the name Rutherford as Rullerford.
still super confused as to why we say so many places wrong in tennessee. Santa -Fe wth. and dont get me started on Demonbruen st. its a german name of the fisrt citizen in nashville and its pronounced (Demon- Brewin) its how they would pronounce the name in german he was a german geez people.
Nope – he was French (Québécois) down from Montreal. His name was actually Jacques Timothe Boucher Sieur de Montbreun.
A lot of these different pronunciations are nothing more than local accents or, dare I say it, sloppiness.
Local accents are why Finger is pronounced “Fanger”. It’s that common way of saying the letter I as if it is an A (“thing” and so on).
Sloppiness is the reason why Benton is often pronounced without the T (Bennuhn), and why some words ending in “ing” are pronounced without the G (goin, doin).
In some cases the pronunciation came about because the people using it didn’t know how to correctly pronounce the word. Milan and Medina are two of them.
Mt. Juliet is not Mt julie-ET.
It is Mt JULyut.
Elizabethton- elizzaBETHtun.
“Furiners” most often say it like the name Elizabeth with a very quick “ton” on the end.
Working in Advertising at the local paper, I talked with people from all over the US. I answered a call from a Chicago advertising agency one day with the usual “ElizzaBETHton Star”. The caller asked me to repeat it three times. Then I heard her say, “See, I TOLD you!” She thanked me for helping her win her bet and hung up.
Gallatin- Ga-latin
I live in Cleveland but it drives me crazy to hear people mispronounce chattanooga. It is pronounced just as it is spelled. Chatt-uh-nooga. Most people leave out the “a” and pronounce it chattnooga. Drives me batty. Lol
Me too!!!! Makes me want to pull out my hair lol
TV people are the worst. Plus, they seem to enjoy saying it and so you have to hear them mispronounce it over and over. I have misophonia anyway and it drives ME batty too. Aa-lanta is another one but I realize that should be on another thread.
Celina (Sa-lina)
Is Gallatin ‘Gal ton’ or ‘Gal-tin’?
Gal-uh-tin
Hohenwald, Tn!! My husband and I have relatives that swear you pronounce this with an “r” in it (such as Hoarnwald) and they lived in the area.
Medina, TN (Muh-Die-nuh)
Not Muh-Dee-nuh…
Buchanan….Buh-can-an
Puryear…Per-yer
Surgoinsville tn..pronounced..sir goins ville
Not surgeonsville
It’s really (sur goins vul)
Born and raised there. I know
Palmer = pronounced Parmer in Grundy County
Whitwell is Whutwull. And South Pittsburgh is South Pitchburg
My hometown is Obion, pronounced O-bi-on. I’ve heard it pronounced O-bri-on or
O-be-onn.
Elizabethton = LIZ-uh-beth-ton
Jonesborough = JONES-burr
Sulphur Springs = Suffer Springs
South Central = SOW-cen-trul
Washington (as in County) = Worsh-un-ton
Trezevant – Trez e vant
McLemoresville – Mac Lemers ville
Never heard either of those pronunciations, and I’ve lived in Carroll County for 52 years.
Another community in Tennessee is
Theta (pronounced Thee-tuh)
Vonore, pronounced just as spelled. New people in town want it pronounced
Vin ure. Sounds like manure to me. Drives my wife crazy.
Munford, actually pronounced the way it’s spelled, but the locals call it “Mumfert”.
Polk County is pronounced Poke County by its natives.
Hampshire (Maury County)– pronounced Hamp- shure not hamp-shy-er
Cookeville is Coo-vul
McMinnville, is pronounced like Mac-Minnville instead Mick-Minnville. Tennessee and their are only 2 in United States the other one is in Organ
McMinnville, Oregon
I love my little town. It was named after Coryton Woodbury, but he started receiving so much mail that was intended for the town government, he changed the spelling of the town to Corryton (adding the extra R). If a stranger asks us how it’s pronounced we always say Cor-ry-ton) but when we talk to each other, it’s sort of said like Carton, adding a slight pause after the car but still making just 2 syllables.
In Gibson County, Trenton is pronounced by the locals as Trennon.
Joelton is very often mispronounced Jol-tin, I don’t live in Joelton but I worked in the Post Office. The news media is the worse about that.
Orlinda in Robertson County – people not from Middle TN have asked you live in Orlando?
After I moved here from another state, I found out the public schools in TN do not teach phonics. I saw a television news report and they interviewed the principal at the local high school. He said, ” Things like this don’t happen at our sku!”
This is the principal of a high school? He could not pronounce the word, “School!”
The blind leading the blind here in TN!
Lebanin (Lebanon)
Marvull (Maryville)
Shovelvull (Shelbyville)
Murray Cow-nee (Maury County)
Southern people can’t spell. If you’re going to call your town Solana don’t spell it Celina. K?
Do you live in the Tennessee towns of Milan or Santa Fe? If so, you can probably recognize a visitor just by the way they (correctly ) say the name of your hometown. And you’re not alone – there are many places in our great state that only true Tennesseans know how to misprounounce.
This is the way the article should have been written because the educational system in TN is broken and they don’t teach phonics!
The infamous Sevierville. Pronounced se vere ville. Hear see ver ville from tourists and newcomers.
Ooltewah is an old Native American word which means “See Rock City”
Wartrace (war trace) is often pronounced as wart race.
Is Trousdale (County) pronounced true or like trousers?
Its more like trousers. TROUS-duhl
Is blount, as in Blount County, pronounced like the word count or like the word punt?
Blount is pronounced like “punt”. I’m not native to Blount County, but I’ve lived there for 13 years. It’s named after William Blount, the first governor of Tennessee, who pronounced his name that way.
It’s really (sur goins vul)
Born and raised there. I know
We LOVE the way we speak. If you’re uncomfortable with that, LEAVE.
Just because something is not pronounced the way you are accustomed to hearing it does not mean it is mispronounced.
Lancaster in Smith County. It’s not Lan-CAST-er. It’s Laynk-a-STIR.
Norene in Wilson County. It’s more NO-reen.
Born and raised in Wilson County, currently residing in Mount Juliet.
It makes me chuckle a bit when I hear new comers say “Juliet” like you would from Romeo and Juliet. The more proper you say it the funnier it is. People from around here normally say something to the effect of “Mount Jewl-yet” or the old timers will say “Mount Jew-yet” but definitely only two syllables, just like our neighboring towns of Lebnin (Lebanon) and Old Hickry (Old Hickory). And let’s not forget our neighbors to the south in Murphysboro (Murfreesboro).
As a Mt. Juliet native (family been local to here more than 200 years), thank you for recognizing how it should be said! Even though I’m still young (in my 30s), those raised to pronounce it “Mount Jyoo-yet” like me are a dying breed!
BAILEYTON bailey-Ton
there is no “bailey”.
It is BAIL-tun, like bailing hay.
Is Cocke County pronounced “Coke” as in the soft drink, “Cook”, or “Cock”?
Cock like the rooster. Census worker mispelled the family’s name in the 1790s therefore….
The last name Cocke goes way back to England.So the census story im not sure where that came from. Various pronunciations (Cock, Cox, or Coke, being the most common ) My great great grandfather George Washington Cocke entered the civil war and had it misspelled as Cox, so history books and military roles have it listed as Cox and had a hard time receiving pension as he was injured in battle . My 7th great grandfather Dr. William Cocke was the first of my family to come to America from England as the personal physician to governor Spotswood of the colony of Virginia and was Secretary of the Colony at the time of his death 10/22/1720 and buried in Brunton Parish church in colonial Williamsburg. His son Catesby Cocke was friends of George Washington Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers. William Cocke, The first of two senators of Tennessee ,who the county was named for was not in my direct line though .
Bruton (not Brunton) Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg (not colonial Williamsburg. The word “Colonial” is capitalized because it is the name of a museum as well as a private foundation/corporation dealing with the colonial history of the city of Williamsburg, VA.
Jason, we need to talk! My husband’s grandfathers down the line are also William and Catesby! His name is Michael Cocke.
Blythe Ferry. It’s not really a town, more of a place with a small community that used to have a car ferry that would take people across the Tennessee River. You would think the “the” would be pronounced, but according to my wife’s grandfather, an Igou who lived in Chattanooga starting from about 1960 on and visited the ferry on the last day of its existence, said that folks there pronounced it simply “Bly”. The last three letters are silent.
Houston county Tenn is house-ton… just like in Georgia. Because It’s named for the same senator.
Tennessee town in Campbell county commonly mispronounced:
Caryville (care-uh-vul)
i live in rives tn the nation weather channel calls it rives just like its spelled its actually (reeves)
I live in Nashville and can always tell when someone isn’t from here by the way they pronounce Lafayette St. It’s not La-fee-ette its Lah-fay-ette. We also have a street downtown named Demonbreun St. Gonna let y’all try to figure that one out on your own. 🙂
DihMONbreeunn
I believe.
You are absolutely correct. I noticed above someone stated it was pronounced “Demon-brewin” and I literally cringed🥴… I’ve lived in TN all of my 36 years and it’s always been “D-mun-bre-un”. While most Tennesseans are firmly rooted in their faith, to my knowledge they don’t hold any demon brewin’s anywhere, at least not that I’m aware of🙈😂
The one that gets me the most is Santa Fe being pronounced Santa-fee instead of Santa-Fay. It sounds like people are puposely trying to say it wrong. Its one e, and it’s a spanish name. I’ll call Lebanon Leb-nun all day, because thats just the name said faster. Saying Santa Fee doesn’t speed anything up.
The Spanish name is Santa Fe which means Holy faith. It’s not Santa fee or Santa Fay. It is Santa Fe (feh) The E in Spanish has the eh sound. Why would you ruin the name that has such a special meaning?
Being not even a year in TN yet. I’ve found joy in calling the Natchez trace the Nachos trace in front of locals
Hmm, I’ve lived in Nashville for 21 years and only hear it pronounced Nash-ville, not -vul. Maybe it’s the peeps I hang with? Now Louisville, Kentucky is a different story. That’s pronounced Lew-vul.
Baileton (Belton)
Church Hill (Churchill)
Kingsport (King sport) vs (Kings port)
Smyrna is one that I find hilarious! People who come to the Nissan plant from overseas call it “Smear-Na”.
I live in Milan Tennessee yes the operators everyone out of west Tennessee call it mi-Lin I tell them they look at me like I don’t know how to say it people in upper Tennessee they laugh at u if they hear u say ya have a nice day they have ask me where r u from I tell them Milan Tennessee born in Jackson Tennessee they said u got long hill billy draw I just look at them I tell them I am city girl born but country girl at heart and yes we all have reunions and have fun of ya fourth July party but never drank smoke drugs take shots in my body or pills I’m narcotic chemical free child never drank whiskey beer any beverage that is not Tennessee rights to drink everyday I go take it to church where beer whiskey can’t go never drank wine or them coolers either
Just up 76 from Somerville (Sumvul) is Yum Yum, pronounced “Ma gunnisits delish”)