Here are 11 Oklahoma town names that are so tricky, they might just make your GPS have an existential crisis trying to pronounce or locate them correctly:
- Hobart: Pronounced “Hoh-bert,” not “Ho-bart.”
- Eucha: Pronounced “Oo-cha,” a name that even longtime Oklahomans sometimes mispronounce.
- Okmulgee: Pronounced “Owk-muhl-gee,” or like “Oak-mul-gee.”
- Bokchito: Pronounced “Bohk-cheat-uh,” meaning “big creek” in Choctaw.
- Miami: Pronounced “My-am-uh,” different from Miami, Florida.
- Pottawatomie: A tongue-twister pronounced with a nickname “Paw” County to simplify.
- Ouachita: Pronounced “Wash-uh-tuh,” a frequent mispronunciation challenge.
- Chickasha: Pronounced “Chick-uh-shay,” not “Chick-uh-shaw.”
- Cache: Locals say “Cash,” surprising visitors expecting “Cash-ay.”
- Wynnewood: Pronounced “Win-ee-wood.”
- Calera: Pronounced “Cal-air-uh,” often misheard due to spelling.
These names often derive from Native American languages or French, leading to pronunciations that don’t follow typical English phonetics. The complexity is an entertaining challenge for newcomers and even some locals, and mispronunciations are a classic way to spot out-of-towners in Oklahoma.
SOURCES
[1](https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/state-pride/oklahoma/hard-to-pronounce-words-ok)
[2](https://www.reddit.com/r/oklahoma/comments/vuh1j0/oklahomas_most_mispronounced_towns/)
[3](https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-pronouncing-oklahoma-towns-and-cities)
[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RtZC7ijAsQ)
[5](https://z94.com/hard-to-pronounce-oklahoma-towns/)
