The Wild World Of Michigan’s City Name Spellings

We put together a list of the most difficult cities and streets to spell in Michigan.

Throughout the Upper and Lower Peninsula, there are street names and city names that have also it’s a backgrounds, from Polish to German to Native American, French, and many other backgrounds that have shaped Michigan to be what it is today.

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A recent survey that was conducted revealed the 10 most commonly misspelled words that Michigan users type in on a Google search.

But words like schedule, character, experience, and because aren’t nearly as difficult as some of the city names that we have come up with. Here’s a list of the most challenging ones that we could think of:

Ypsilanti
Why not just spell it with an I?
Sault Ste. Marie
It's Sue-Saint-Marie. How did you not know that?
Mackinac Island
Not Mackinaw. But it is as well...
Ontonagon
Ontana...Ontonu... never mind.
Schoenherr Road
Shay-ner. It could be so much easier, but instead it's a German spelling nightmare.

Dequindre Road
De-Quin-Der. Not De-Quin-Dre. Almost nobody gets this right on the first try anyway.
Washtenaw Avenue
Ojibwe word meaning "Far Away Waters."
Hamtramck
I love how the word just gives up at the end.
Wyandotte
Wine-dot. It's that easy.
Mackinac Island
Again, it's the famous “why is it pronounced Mackinaw?” problem.
Negaunee
The word translates to "foremost," "in advance," or "leading".
L'Anse
French apostrophe names seem to trip people up.
Ypsilanti
This word is probably the statewide champion for spelling anxiety.
Charlevoix
Again, France making words hard for no reason.
Escanaba
In da moonlight.

What are some other ones that you came up with?