🎙️ NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter
Spell out any text using the NATO phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie…) — useful for reading names, codes or addresses clearly over the phone or radio.
What the converter does with each character
Every character is looked up in the 36-entry table - the 26 code words plus the ten digits - and replaced one for one. The line form joins them with dashes, and the list underneath pairs each original character with its code word:
SimpleMoney -> Sierra - India - Mike - Papa - Lima - Echo -
Mike - Oscar - November - Echo - YankeeCase is ignored for the lookup, a space becomes (space), and
anything with no code word - a hyphen, a full stop, an accented letter - is passed
through as itself. When case matters, say it aloud: "capital Sierra, small
India".
Reading it out loud
- Say the code word, not the letter. "Bravo" survives a noisy line where "B" is heard as "D", "P", "V" or "T" - that confusable set is the whole reason the alphabet exists.
- Digits are spoken individually. 2025 is "Two Zero Two Five", never "twenty twenty-five". Aviation radio stretches some of them further: tree for 3, fower for 4 and niner for 9, so 9 is not mistaken for the German nein.
- Two spellings are deliberate. ICAO writes Alfa and Juliett because speakers of many languages would read a final "ph" as /p/ and a lone "t" as silent.
Frequently asked questions
How do you spell a name using the NATO alphabet?
Give the letter and its code word together for the listener: "S for Sierra, M for Mike". Paste the name above and read down the letter-by-letter list.
Is the NATO phonetic alphabet the same as the police one?
No. NATO's is the international ICAO standard used in aviation and shipping. Many police forces use a local set - the British one says Alpha but also Yellow and Zebra - so agree on which one you are using first.
What is the code word for Z?
Zulu. It is also the name of the UTC time zone in military and aviation use, which is why a timestamp is written as 1400Z.