Most Mispronounced Towns By New York Tourists

New York has tons of visitors every year across the world, but those visitors may have different ways of pronouncing some of our favorite cities. 

You can’t fault them, though. You don’t know what you don’t know, and for international tourists especially, English may not even be their first language, so it makes sense why some tourists may struggle to pronounce towns and cities that we grew up knowing and visiting on a regular basis. 

Thanks to one tourism site (HawaiianIslands.com), we have an updated list of the most mispronounced towns in the United States, and many of them are actually in New York State. 

How Did They Conduct The Survey?

The tourism site compiled a list of the most popular tourist spots in the United States, and then they analyzed the number of listens on the pronunciation dictionary Forvo to see which towns and cities gave tourists the most difficulty to pronounce.  

What Are The Results?

Here are the most mispronounced tourist spots in the United States. See how many are in New York state. 

20. Grand Teton, Wyoming

19. Lake Champlain, NY & Lake Champlain, Vermont

18. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Louisiana

17. Antelope Canyon, Arizona

16. Mount Washington, New Hampshire

15. Acadia National Park, Maine

14. Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania

13. Salt Lake Temple, Utah

12. Rockefeller Center, New York

11. Mount Bachelor, Oregon

10. The Museum Of Modern Art, New York

9. Central Park, New York

8. Brooklyn Bridge, New York

7. Castle Rock, Michigan

6. Yosemite National Park, California

5. Mount Rainier, Washington

4. Alcatraz, California

3. Empire State Building, New York

2. Grand Canyon, Arizona

1. Niagara Falls, New York

That’s right! Niagara Falls, located in Western New York, was ranked as the #1 most mispronounced town in the state by tourists visiting the United States. 

When you read “Niagara Falls,” you may be inclined to read it as “Ny-ah-gara,” but according to Forvo and the results of the survey, it’s actually nahy-ag-ruh, with the emphasis being placed on the “uh” sound.

But if you look at the top 20, seven tourist spots were from New York state alone! It makes you realize how many people visit our state every year.