NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter

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NATO Phonetic Alphabet Chart

Digit words shown are the official ICAO pronunciations (Niner avoids confusion with the German "nein"; Tree and Fife survive noisy radio better than "three" and "five").

How to Use the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter

1. 1. Type or paste your text. Names, codes, serial numbers, and email addresses all work. Upper and lower case give the same result.
2. 2. Choose how digits appear. By default, digits come out as the ICAO radio words (Wun, Too, Tree…). Tick “Plain digits” to keep 0–9 as ordinary figures, which is usually clearer on a phone call.
3. 3. Choose the layout. One line per word is the default. Untick it to get everything on one line with “/” between words.
4. 4. Copy and read it out. Punctuation and symbols have no code word, so they appear in quotes, such as "-". Say the character aloud, for example “hyphen”.

Worked Example

For “Booking ref AB12”, with the default settings, the converter gives one line per word.

Bravo Oscar Oscar Kilo India November Golf
Romeo Echo Foxtrot
Alfa Bravo Wun Too

With Plain digits ticked and One line per word unticked, the same text becomes “Bravo Oscar Oscar Kilo India November Golf / Romeo Echo Foxtrot / Alfa Bravo 1 2”. A hyphenated code such as Q8-X comes out as Quebec Ait "-" X-ray, with the hyphen quoted so that you know to say it.

The Alphabet and Its Origin

The alphabet is formally the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted it in Annex 10 on 1 November 1951, replaced the code words for C, M, N, U, and X, and completed the final version on 1 March 1956; it has been in use since, according to ICAO. It is also used by NATO, maritime and amateur radio, emergency services, and many call centers, which is why it is popularly called the NATO alphabet.

It is a spelling alphabet, not a phonetic one in the linguist's sense. It says nothing about how a letter sounds. It replaces each letter with an easily distinguished word, so that B, D, and P, or M and N, are not confused on a poor line. To transcribe actual speech sounds, use the English to IPA Converter instead.

Alfa, Juliett, and the Digit Words

• Alfa and Juliett. These are the official ICAO spellings, and they are deliberately not the English ones (“alpha”, “Juliet”). The spellings are chosen so that people who do not speak English natively say the words as intended. The final “tt” in Juliett, for example, keeps the t from being silent for a French reader.
• Digits. The ICAO radio pronunciations are Zero, Wun, Too, Tree, Fower, Fife, Six, Seven, Ait, and Niner. They differ from everyday speech so that numbers are not confused over a noisy channel, and Niner stops a listener mistaking 9 for the German “nein”. The respellings show how to say each word, so the exact letters can vary a little between sources.
• Where each form fits. Aviators use the digit words as well as the letters. In ordinary phone calls, people mostly use the letter words and say the digits normally, which is what the Plain digits setting does.

Tips for Spelling Over the Phone

• Spell only what is likely to be misheard. A surname or an email local part, not the whole conversation.
• Say each word clearly, then pause. Group long codes in sets of three or four characters, so the listener can write them down.
• Name punctuation in plain words. Say “at”, “dot”, “hyphen”, or “underscore”, since the NATO alphabet has no words for them.
• State the case when it matters. Say “capital” or “lower case” before a letter in a password or code.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the NATO phonetic alphabet?

It is the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, which assigns a code word to each letter: Alfa for A, Bravo for B, Charlie for C, and so on. It stops letters from being misheard over radio or phone and is used by aviation, the military, emergency services, and call centers.

Why is it called NATO if ICAO created it?

The alphabet was developed and adopted by ICAO for civil aviation in the early 1950s. NATO adopted it as well, and the name stuck in everyday speech. ICAO, the International Telecommunication Union, and the International Maritime Organization all use it, so “ICAO alphabet” is also correct.

Why are Alfa and Juliett spelled that way?

The ICAO spellings are deliberately not the English ones. They are chosen so that people who do not speak English natively say the words as intended; the double t in “Juliett”, for example, keeps the final t from being silent for a French reader. Both are pronounced like the ordinary words “alpha” and “Juliet”.

How are numbers spoken in the NATO alphabet?

With the ICAO radio words: Zero, Wun, Too, Tree, Fower, Fife, Six, Seven, Ait, and Niner. The tool uses them by default. Tick Plain digits if you would rather keep ordinary numerals.

What happens to characters that have no code word?

Punctuation and symbols have no code word, so the tool passes each one through inside quotes, for example a hyphen shows as "-". Letters with accents are not converted either, and are quoted in the same way.

Is it the same as the phonetic alphabet in a dictionary?

No. A dictionary uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to show how a word sounds. The NATO alphabet only spells letters with code words. The English to IPA Converter handles the first job.

Does the converter send my text anywhere?

No. The conversion runs in your browser, and nothing you type is uploaded or stored.