What is the difference between the NATO and police alphabets?

The NATO/ICAO alphabet uses words like Alpha, Bravo and Charlie and is standard for aviation and the military. The police alphabet uses Adam, Boy, Charles and is common in US law-enforcement radio.

Can it read the spelling out loud?

Yes. Press Speak to use your browser's built-in text-to-speech to read the phonetic spelling aloud — useful for practising or dictating over the phone.

How are numbers handled?

Numbers are spelled out in full alongside the letters, so a reference like A7 becomes "Alpha Seven", keeping the whole string unambiguous.

Why use a phonetic alphabet at all?

Many letters sound alike on a noisy line — B, P, D, T, V, and so on. Replacing each letter with a distinct word (Bravo, Papa, Delta) removes that ambiguity, which matters for names, postcodes and confirmation codes.

A capital letter is shown with a capitalised phonetic word so you can convey case if needed, for example "Alpha" for A and lowercase styling for a.

When should I use the police alphabet instead of NATO?

Use the police (Adam Boy Charles) alphabet if your audience expects US law-enforcement conventions; otherwise the NATO alphabet is the international default understood across aviation, the military and most call centres.

No. The generator and speech run entirely in your browser and nothing is sent or stored.

Phonetic Spelling Generator

Phonetic spelling generator

Spell out names, reference numbers and codes clearly over the phone or radio, where similar-sounding letters are easy to mishear. Choose the NATO/ICAO alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie) or the police alphabet (Adam, Boy, Charles), type your text, and get an unambiguous phonetic spelling instantly — ready to read or hear aloud.

How it works

The tool maps each letter of your input to its phonetic word in the selected alphabet, spells numbers in full, and joins everything with spaces:

input:  "AB7"
NATO:   Alpha Bravo Seven
police: Adam Boy Seven

Capital letters are shown with a capitalised phonetic word so case can be conveyed. Press Speak to read the result aloud using your browser’s text-to-speech.

Example

Spelling the name “Jax” with the NATO alphabet:

J → Juliett, A → Alpha, X → X-ray
Result: Juliett Alpha X-ray

Letter	NATO	Police
A	Alpha	Adam
B	Bravo	Boy
C	Charlie	Charles
J	Juliett	John

Everything runs in your browser with nothing uploaded.