Here are 10 Oregon places that are notoriously difficult to pronounce correctly on the first try, even by locals:
- Willamette – Pronounced “will-AM-it” (not will-am-ET or will-a-met). A helpful phrase to remember is “Willamette, damn it!”
- Clatskanie – Pronounced “clat-skan-eye,” not “clats-knee” or other variants.
- Coquille – Pronounced “co-KEEL,” reflecting the original tribal name pronunciation.
- The Dalles – Pronounced “the DALZ,” rhyming with “pals,” not like “Dallas”.
- Couch (Street) – Pronounced “cooch,” not “cowch”.
- Yachats – Pronounced “YAH-hots” or “Yak-Hats,” definitely not “Yatchetts”.
- Tualatin – Pronounced “too-AWL-a-tin,” not “Tua-late-in”.
- Glisan – Pronounced “GLEE-sun,” not “glis-san” or “glisten”.
- Philomath – Pronounced “fill-OH-math,” not “phylo-math”.
- Albina – Pronounced “Al-bee-na,” named after a woman, not “Al-bee-na” with a hard ‘i’ or other variants1.
These pronunciations can be tricky because many place names in Oregon derive from Native American languages, French, or early settlers’ names, and local usage often differs from spelling intuition. Even locals sometimes disagree on pronunciations, so don’t worry if you don’t get them right on the first try!
Sources:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbdjBfDv6cs
- https://www.up.edu/portland/oregon-pronunciation-guide.html
- https://packardcommunications.com/strangely-pronounced-words-portland-or/
- https://929thebull.com/11-mispronounced-city-names-in-oregon/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PFcRlS5hN4