About NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter
This NATO phonetic alphabet converter replaces each letter with its code word and each digit with its spoken number, so Smith becomes Sierra Mike India Tango Hotel and 90210 becomes Niner Zero Two One Zero. It uses the official spellings Alfa and Juliett, writes 9 as Niner, and marks each gap between words as (space) so you know where to pause. You can switch the result to capitals or lower case and put the words on one line, between dashes, or one per line. The alphabet covers A to Z and 0 to 9 only: punctuation such as @, full stops and hyphens is skipped and counted, so say those marks yourself when reading out an email address.
NATO phonetic alphabet chart with pronunciation
The 26 code words as this converter writes them, with the pronunciation published by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
| Letter | Code word | Pronounced |
|---|---|---|
| A | Alfa | AL FAH |
| B | Bravo | BRAH VOH |
| C | Charlie | CHAR LEE |
| D | Delta | DELL TAH |
| E | Echo | ECK OH |
| F | Foxtrot | FOKS TROT |
| G | Golf | GOLF |
| H | Hotel | HO TELL |
| I | India | IN DEE AH |
| J | Juliett | JEW LEE ETT |
| K | Kilo | KEY LOH |
| L | Lima | LEE MAH |
| M | Mike | MIKE |
| N | November | NO VEM BER |
| O | Oscar | OSS CAH |
| P | Papa | PAH PAH |
| Q | Quebec | KEH BECK |
| R | Romeo | ROW ME OH |
| S | Sierra | SEE AIR RAH |
| T | Tango | TANG GO |
| U | Uniform | YOU NEE FORM |
| V | Victor | VIK TAH |
| W | Whiskey | WISS KEY |
| X | X-ray | ECKS RAY |
| Y | Yankee | YANG KEY |
| Z | Zulu | ZOO LOO |
Lima is LEE MAH, like the city, and Quebec starts with a K sound.
Numbers 0 to 9 in the phonetic alphabet
Digits are spoken singly. The middle column is what this tool outputs; the right column is the radiotelephony pronunciation.
| Digit | Tool output | Radio pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Zero | ZE RO |
| 1 | One | WUN |
| 2 | Two | TOO |
| 3 | Three | TREE |
| 4 | Four | FOW ER |
| 5 | Five | FIFE |
| 6 | Six | SIX |
| 7 | Seven | SEV EN |
| 8 | Eight | AIT |
| 9 | Niner | NIN ER |
Worked examples: names, postcodes and references
A surname
Your text: Smith
Sierra Mike India Tango Hotel
A UK postcode
Your text: SW1A 1AA
Sierra Whiskey One Alfa (space) One Alfa Alfa
The (space) marker shows where the gap falls. Characters spelled: 7.
A booking reference with a hyphen
Your text: XK7-29Q
X-ray Kilo Seven Two Niner Quebec
Skipped: 1. The hyphen has no code word, so say dash yourself if it matters.
An aircraft registration
Your text: N123AB
November One Two Three Alfa Bravo
Capitals with dashes
Your text: XK7 29Q. Output style: ALPHA BRAVO CHARLIE. Separator: Dash
X-RAY - KILO - SEVEN - (SPACE) - TWO - NINER - QUEBEC
An email address
Your text: john.doe@example.com
Juliett Oscar Hotel November Delta Oscar Echo Echo X-ray Alfa Mike Papa Lima Echo Charlie Oscar Mike
Skipped: 3, the two dots and the @ sign. Convert each part separately and say dot and at between them.
How to spell something out over the phone
A few habits make phonetic spelling work with people who have never learned the alphabet.
- Say what is coming first: "My surname is Smith, I will spell that."
- Give each letter with its word for listeners outside aviation or the forces: S for Sierra, M for Mike.
- Keep a steady pace and pause slightly after every third or fourth word so the other person can write.
- Read digits one at a time. Say Four Two, not forty-two, and say zero, not oh, which can be heard as the letter O.
- Name punctuation in plain words (dash, dot, at, underscore) because the alphabet has no code words for it.
- Ask for a read-back on anything that matters, such as a payment reference or a registration.
Where the code words came from
The present alphabet took effect in civil aviation on 1 March 1956 and was then adopted by NATO and by international telecommunications and maritime bodies, which is why one set of words now works across airlines, ships, armed forces and call centres in different countries. The words were chosen to be pronounceable by speakers of English, French and Spanish, and candidates were tested on noisy channels, keeping those that were still recognised when the sound was poor.
It replaced several incompatible national sets. The best known is the Able Baker alphabet used by American and British forces in the Second World War: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox. That is why older films and books use words that sound wrong today. Only four words from that list, Charlie, Mike, Victor and X-ray, carried over into the current one.
The problem it solves is that English letter names are short and many of them rhyme. B, C, D, E, G, P, T and V share one vowel sound, M and N differ by very little, and F and S are easily swapped on a line that cuts high frequencies. A two or three syllable word with its own rhythm survives where a single syllable does not.
How to get your result
- 1
Type or paste what you need to spell into Your text.
- 2
Pick an Output style: Alpha Bravo Charlie (title case), ALPHA BRAVO CHARLIE or alpha bravo charlie.
- 3
Choose a Separator: Space, Dash, or One per line if you will be reading aloud and want to keep your place.
- 4
Read the Phonetic spelling from the screen or copy it into a ticket, email or call note.
- 5
Check Skipped in the Summary. Anything above 0 means punctuation or accented letters were left out.