Type a word, a name or a reference number and see it spelled out in the NATO phonetic alphabet — Alfa, Bravo, Charlie and so on. It’s the reliable way to read confusing strings over a noisy phone line. Each character is shown with its code word, and you can copy the whole spelling.
Type something to see its phonetic spelling.
9 is read as “Niner”; a slash marks a space between words. Serbian diacritics fold to their base letter.
How it works
Every letter maps to its ICAO/NATO code word (A → Alfa, B → Bravo, … Z → Zulu) and every digit to its spoken form, with 9 read as “Niner” to avoid confusion with “five”. Case doesn’t matter, and Serbian diacritics fold to their base letter, so č is read as Charlie and ž as Zulu.
Spaces between words become a slash in the copyable output, so “AB CD” reads “Alfa Bravo / Charlie Delta”. Characters with no code word — punctuation and symbols — are passed through unchanged so the spelling still lines up with what you typed.
Practical examples
Reading a booking code
A reference like “KX7” becomes Kilo X-ray Seven — unambiguous even if the line is bad or the listener’s first language differs.
Spelling a name
“Mila” is Mike India Lima Alfa. Handy when giving your name to a call centre that keeps mishearing it.
A distress signal
“SOS” spells Sierra Oscar Sierra — the phonetic reading used on radio when clarity matters most.
Frequently asked questions
What is the NATO phonetic alphabet?
It’s the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet standardised by ICAO and used by NATO, aviation and emergency services. Assigning a distinct word to each letter makes spelling clear over radio and phone, where letters like “m” and “n” sound alike.
Why is 9 spelled “Niner”?
To keep it distinct from “five” and from the German “nein”, radio procedure pronounces nine as “niner”. This tool follows that convention for the digit 9.
Does capitalisation matter?
No. Upper- and lower-case letters map to the same code word, so “abc” and “ABC” both give Alfa Bravo Charlie. The original character is still shown beside each word for reference.
How are Serbian letters like č, š, ž handled?
They fold to their base Latin letter — č and ć become Charlie, š becomes Sierra, ž becomes Zulu, đ becomes Delta. There are no separate NATO words for the diacritic letters, so this is the practical choice.
What happens to spaces and punctuation?
A space is shown as a slash (/) in the copyable text to mark a word boundary. Punctuation and symbols that have no code word pass through as themselves.
Is “Alfa” or “Alpha” correct?
Both are heard, but the official ICAO spellings are “Alfa” and “Juliett” (with those exact spellings) so that speakers of any language pronounce them correctly. This tool uses the official forms.
Can I use it for passwords or codes?
Yes — it’s ideal for dictating case-sensitive codes and serial numbers. Just remember it doesn’t distinguish upper from lower case, so state that separately if it matters.
Is anything sent to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser, so whatever you type stays on your device.
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