NATO phonetic alphabet translator
Type a word, a name or a code and get it spelled out letter by letter, ready to read over the phone or radio.
About this translator
The NATO phonetic alphabet, formally the ICAO radiotelephony spelling alphabet, gives every letter a word that is hard to mix up with another: Bravo and Delta cannot be confused the way B and D can over a bad connection. It was adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization in 1951 and revised in 1956, and it is used by pilots, the military, emergency services and anyone who has to spell a name over the phone.
Two spellings surprise people. Alfa and Juliett are written that way on purpose, so that speakers of every language pronounce them correctly. Numbers have their own pronunciations too: 3 is said tree, 5 is said fife and 9 is said niner, to stop them being confused with similar-sounding numbers.
To spell something, say each code word clearly with a short pause between them. For a name such as Maya you would say Mike, Alfa, Yankee, Alfa. The translator below does the spelling for you and the chart shows how each word is meant to sound.
The full chart
| 0 | Zero | ZEE-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 | Nine | NIN-er |
| A | Alfa | |
| B | Bravo | |
| C | Charlie | |
| D | Delta | |
| E | Echo | |
| F | Foxtrot | |
| G | Golf | |
| H | Hotel | |
| I | India | |
| J | Juliett | |
| K | Kilo | |
| L | Lima | |
| M | Mike | |
| N | November | |
| O | Oscar | |
| P | Papa | |
| Q | Quebec | |
| R | Romeo | |
| S | Sierra | |
| T | Tango | |
| U | Uniform | |
| V | Victor | |
| W | Whiskey | |
| X | X-ray | |
| Y | Yankee | |
| Z | Zulu |
Questions
What is the NATO phonetic alphabet?
It is a set of 26 code words, one for each letter of the alphabet, that are easy to tell apart on a radio or telephone, from Alfa for A to Zulu for Z.
How do you spell a name with the NATO alphabet?
Say the code word for each letter in order. Maya is Mike, Alfa, Yankee, Alfa.
Why is it spelled Alfa and Juliett?
The spelling prevents English readers and French readers from mispronouncing the words: ph is not read as f in Alfa, and the double t in Juliett is read as a hard t.
How do you say numbers in the NATO alphabet?
Three is tree, four is fower, five is fife, nine is niner, and the others are said normally. The chart below lists all ten.