10 Names in Maine That Don’t Sound the Way They’re Spelled

Spelling can be a poor guide on a Maine road trip.

Some town names are said very differently from how they look, and Mainers can often tell when a visitor is guessing.

Here’s how to say the names that trip up visitors.

1. Calais

Calais is cal-us in Maine, according to a 2024 Bangor Daily News pronunciation guide.

The French port of the same name is cal-lay, the paper wrote in a 2014 feature.

You can tell someone’s from away if they say cal-lay.

If you ask a Maine Yankee for directions to cal-lay, you’ll watch the confusion register.

Calais took its name from the French city when it incorporated in 1809.

The name was tied to France’s help during the American Revolution.

The name stuck.

2. Bangor

Bangor is bang-gore, and the paper’s guide adds that a whole song exists about getting it right.

The emphasis goes on the last syllable.

Mainers winced during the 1991 troop flights whenever a news commentator said bang-ger.

If you’ve said bang-ger yourself, you’ve got company.

Maine: An Encyclopedia, citing Henry Gannett, says the Rev. Seth Noble named Bangor for an old psalm tune.

3. Saco

Say Saco as sah-coh, the guide says, and absolutely never as say-co.

Say-ko is out too.

That settles it.

If you start with sah, the rest follows.

Maine: An Encyclopedia says some trace the name to the Sokokis people, and others read it as a Native word for the outlet.

4. Damariscotta

Damariscotta is spelled with five syllables and said with four, the paper says.

The respelling is dam-ruh-sco-ta, and you can pretend the second a isn’t there.

If you count it out loud, that’s a lot of letters for four syllables.

Maine: An Encyclopedia says the Native name for the area was Madamescontee, meaning an abundance of alewives, but calls the modern name’s origin uncertain.

5. Skowhegan

Skowhegan is skow-hee-gin in the guide, with all three syllables getting equal emphasis.

The last syllable is gin, not gan.

If you give skow, hee and gin equal emphasis, you’re saying it right.

Early reports recorded the name as Skwahegan, Maine: An Encyclopedia says, and it gives the meaning as a watching place for fish, from the Kennebec River falls that harbored salmon.

The Portland Press Herald reported in 2015 that the translation local historians have long held is a place to watch, though the article also notes the origin is uncertain.

6. Wytopitlock

Wytopitlock is a Wabanaki name in the guide, and the respelling is whit-to-pit-lock.

If you’re a tourist, the 2014 feature said, you could be excused for saying why-top-it-lock instead.

The accent usually falls on the third syllable, or locals cut the name down to pitlock.

Skip the why.

7. Steuben

A 2014 feature tells a story it calls perhaps apocryphal, about out-of-state con men who told a Milbridge resident they were from Steuben.

The con men said it the Germanic way, shtoy-ben, with the emphasis on the first syllable.

The resident knew immediately.

If you’d rather not sound like the con men, the guide’s stoo-ben, with the emphasis on the last syllable, is the way to go.

Maine: An Encyclopedia says the town was named for Baron von Steuben, the Continental Army’s inspector general during the American Revolution.

8. Chebeague Island

The guide accepts two pronunciations of Chebeague Island, shah-beeg and shah-big.

Either way, the first syllable is always a shah sound, and the last syllable takes the emphasis.

Take your pick.

Maine: An Encyclopedia says the name may come from a Native word for separated or almost through, since Little and Great Chebeague islands join at low tide.

9. St. Agatha

The paper files St. Agatha with its French names and gives sant-agat.

The th at the end of Agatha becomes a plain t.

If you end it on tha, you’ve added a sound the town leaves off.

Maine: An Encyclopedia says the name comes from a parish church established in 1890.

St. Agatha incorporated in 1899 from a portion of Frenchville.

10. Vienna

Vienna is vy-en-na, with the emphasis on the first syllable, the paper’s guide says.

The Lewiston Sun Journal cited Vienna in 2024 as a place whose name Mainers pronounce differently from the original.

If you know the Austrian capital, you’ll hear the difference right away.

Maine: An Encyclopedia says the town was named for what is now Vienna, Austria, though at the time it was part of Germany.

Names From Abroad

The Portland Press Herald reported in 2020 that more than 25 of Maine’s 500 or so municipalities are named for foreign countries and cities.

If you’ve driven through Paris or Mexico, you’ve been through two of them.

Paris incorporated in 1793, and its town fathers wanted to pay tribute to France’s military aid.

Town historians near Rumford say records show Peru and Mexico were named for countries that had broken away from the Spanish empire.

The Lewiston Sun Journal wrote in 2024 that Madrid, said mad-rid, is always being confused with the Spanish capital.

Say it mad-rid, and you’re saying it like a local.

Names With Two Pronunciations

Cambridge comes out two ways, according to the guide, came-bridge and cam-bridge.

The first matches the city where Harvard University is.

The paper's advice is to try both and see what people say.

Portland splits too.