Colorado’s most mispronounced word of 2026? It’s our own name
Oct 21, 2026, 4:25 PM
It’s the name on our license plates and our sports jerseys. Apparently, it’s also the word we can’t stop Googling. A new study of Google search data found that the word Coloradans most often look up how to pronounce in 2026 is “Colorado.”
Unscramblerer looked at searches for “how to pronounce” and “how do you pronounce” from Jan. 1 through Oct. 20. It found Colorado is the second most pronunciation-curious state in the country, behind only Idaho. Oregon, Utah and Vermont round out the top five. The study’s official pronunciation for our state is “kah-luh-RAD-oh,” with the middle sounding like “rad.” Plenty of locals and newcomers say “kah-luh-RAH-doh,” so this could get heated at the next family barbecue.
To be fair, we’re not alone. Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada and Oregon all searched their own state names the most, too. Nationally, the toughest word was Worcestershire sauce (WUUS-ter-sheer), followed by gyro (YEE-roh) and dachshund (DAKS-hund). Our neighbors had their own trouble: Utah’s top word was “data,” and Wyoming’s was “dachshund.”
If you really want to sound like a local, saying “Colorado” right is just the start. Try Buena Vista (BYOO-nuh VIS-tuh), Salida (suh-LYE-duh), Ouray (yoo-RAY) and Louisville (LEWIS-ville). And if a tourist asks you how to say Saguache, just smile, wave and tell them it’s pronounced “suh-WATCH.”
