NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter
Spell names, codes and numbers so they cannot be misheard — Alfa, Bravo, Tree, Niner.
A name, a code, a number or an e-mail address. The spelling appears as you type.
Spelled out
Type something above to see it spelled out.
Uses your device’s English voices.
A–Z chart
NATO / ICAO phonetic alphabet · mysmartcopilot.com
| Letter | Code word | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| A | Alfa | AL FAH |
| B | Bravo | BRAH VOH |
| C | Charlie | CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE |
| D | Delta | DELL TAH |
| E | Echo | ECK OH |
| F | Foxtrot | FOKS TROT |
| G | Golf | GOLF |
| H | Hotel | HOH 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 or OO NEE FORM |
| V | Victor | VIK TAH |
| W | Whiskey | WISS KEY |
| X | X-ray | ECKS RAY |
| Y | Yankee | YANG KEY |
| Z | Zulu | ZOO LOO |
| Digit | ICAO | Say it | ITU figure code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Zero | ZERO | Nadazero |
| 1 | One | WUN | Unaone |
| 2 | Two | TOO | Bissotwo |
| 3 | Tree | TREE | Terrathree |
| 4 | Fower | FOW-ER | Kartefour |
| 5 | Fife | FIFE | Pantafive |
| 6 | Six | SIX | Soxisix |
| 7 | Seven | SEV-EN | Setteseven |
| 8 | Eight | AIT | Oktoeight |
| 9 | Niner | NIN-ER | Novenine |
| . | Decimal | DAY-SEE-MAL | Decimal |
Letters: ITU Radio Regulations Appendix 14 and ICAO Annex 10; the stressed syllables are in bold. Digits: ICAO pronunciations (UK CAA CAP 413, FAA Aeronautical Information Manual) and the ITU figure code.
About the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter
Type a name, a booking reference, a serial number or an e-mail address and get it spelled with the international radiotelephony alphabet — the code words Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … Zulu that pilots, air traffic controllers, ships, armed forces, call centres and help desks use so that letters such as B, D, P and T cannot be confused on a bad line. Digits use the ICAO pronunciations (Tree for 3, Fower for 4, Fife for 5, Niner for 9), or plain English digits, or the maritime figure code of the ITU (Nadazero, Unaone …).
Every letter shows how to say it, with the stressed syllable marked as in the ITU Radio Regulations. You can hear the spelling read aloud by your device’s voice, copy or download it, turn code words back into text, and print the A–Z chart below for a desk or a cockpit. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
How to use it
- Type or paste the text to spell, for example
X7K2QPoranna.lee@example.com. The spelling appears letter by letter as you type, grouped by word. - Choose how digits are said: ICAO (Tree, Fower, Fife, Niner — the default for aviation and most radio use), English digits, or the ITU figure code used in maritime radio.
- Choose the layout of the result — one line, one word per line or one letter per line — and tick Say “capital” if upper and lower case matter (passwords, Wi-Fi keys).
- Press Read aloud to hear it, Copy to paste it into a message, or Download .txt. To read a spelling someone sent you, switch to Code words → text.
Examples
X7K2QP
X-ray Seven Kilo Two Quebec Papa
John Smith
Juliett Oscar Hotel November / Sierra Mike India Tango Hotel
121.5
One Two One Decimal Fife
ICAO says a decimal point as Decimal (DAY-SEE-MAL); in the United States the FAA says Point for frequencies.
jo@abc.de
Juliett Oscar at Alfa Bravo Charlie dot Delta Echo
Symbols have no code words; the result names them in lower case (at, dot, dash) so they stand out from the letters.
Whiskey Echo Lima Lima / Delta Oscar November Echo
WELL DONE
Common uses
- Giving a booking reference, ticket number or order code to a call centre.
- Spelling your name or e-mail address on a phone call or in a video meeting.
- Reading out serial numbers, licence plates, VINs and postcodes without mistakes.
- Learning the aviation and amateur-radio alphabet, with a printable chart.
The alphabet and how to say it
The 26 code words are set out in Appendix 14 of the ITU Radio Regulations and in ICAO Annex 10, and NATO uses the same words: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. The official spellings are Alfa and Juliett; Alpha and Juliet are common variants, and the decoder accepts both.
The ITU writes how each word is spoken and underlines the syllables to stress — AL fah, hoh TELL, no VEM ber, pah PAH, keh BECK, see AIR rah. The chart below shows them in bold. Charlie may also be said SHAR lee and Uniform OO nee form.
Digits and numbers
Radiotelephony says each digit separately (118.7 is “one one eight decimal seven”), with pronunciations that are hard to mishear: ZERO, WUN, TOO, TREE, FOW-er, FIFE, SIX, SEV-en, AIT, NIN-er, and DAY-SEE-MAL for the decimal point — see table 3 of the UK CAA’s CAP 413 radiotelephony manual and section 4-2-7 of the FAA’s Aeronautical Information Manual. Aviation writes the unusual ones as Tree, Fower, Fife and Niner, which is what the ICAO setting shows. Round hundreds and thousands, as in heights, are said as words (“four thousand five hundred”); this converter always spells digit by digit.
The ITU Radio Regulations also give a figure code — Nadazero, Unaone, Bissotwo, Terrathree, Kartefour, Pantafive, Soxisix, Setteseven, Oktoeight, Novenine, with Decimal and Stop — in which every syllable is stressed equally.
Spelling well on the phone
- Say the letter, then the code word, when the listener is not used to the alphabet: “B as in Bravo”.
- Pause between groups, and say space, dash or dot where the text has them.
- For case-sensitive codes (passwords, Wi-Fi keys), tick Say “capital” so every upper-case letter is marked.
- Ask the other person to read the spelling back, and check it with Code words → text.
Limitations
- Only the 26 Latin letters and the digits have code words. Accented letters are spelled with their base letter (é as Echo) and listed; letters of other scripts and emoji are shown but have no code word.
- Symbols are named in plain English (at, dot, dash, slash); there is no international code word for them.
- Read aloud uses the voices of your device or browser, so the accent and quality depend on them. Some browsers offer online voices that send the words to their speech service; the page says when a voice is online.
- Numbers are always spelled digit by digit; aviation rules for whole hundreds and thousands, flight levels and headings are not applied.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
Is the NATO alphabet the same as the ICAO alphabet?
Yes. NATO, ICAO (civil aviation) and the ITU (radio) use the same 26 code words, which is why it is also called the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet. Older alphabets such as Able, Baker are different and are no longer used internationally.
Why is 9 “Niner” and 3 “Tree”?
Radiotelephony uses pronunciations that stay clear on a noisy channel: TREE, FOW-er, FIFE and NIN-er for 3, 4, 5 and 9. They are the ICAO pronunciations found in national manuals such as the UK CAA’s CAP 413 and the FAA’s Aeronautical Information Manual. If your listener would find them odd, choose English digits.
Is it Alfa or Alpha, Juliett or Juliet?
The ITU and ICAO spell them Alfa and Juliett. Many people, and some national manuals, write Alpha and Juliet; they are said the same way. The converter writes the official spellings and understands both when decoding.
How do I spell an e-mail address or a website?
Type it in: letters get their code words and the symbols are named — at, dot, dash, underscore, slash. For example jo@abc.de becomes “Juliett Oscar at Alfa Bravo Charlie dot Delta Echo”.
Can it read the spelling out loud?
Yes — press Read aloud. It uses your device’s speech voices, pausing between letters and longer between words, and highlights each letter as it is spoken. You can pick the voice and the speed. Voices marked online send the words to your browser’s speech service; voices on your device keep them on it.
Can I print the alphabet?
Yes. Press Print chart under the A–Z chart: only the chart is printed (letters, code words, pronunciations and the digits), on one page.