World's LONGEST officially Place Names

A little village in Wales boasts the longest place name at 58 letters:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

But New Zealand makes the same claim with a hill containing 92 letters:

Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaungahoronukupokaiw
henuaakitanarahu

But after some further digging we found the winner to be Bangkok. OK, so that's only 7 letters, but the official ceremonial name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon for short meaning 'City of Angels'.

The full name of Bangkok has many variations in spelling but we found what is believed to be the official spelling coming in at 163 letters:

Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphopnopparatraj
athaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisa
nukamprasit




The translation here is pretty much the unabridged history of the city rather than a word.

krungthep mahanakhon
The land of angels, the great city of

amorn rattanakosin
immortality, various of devine gems,

mahintara yudthaya mahadilok pohp
the great angelic land unconquerable,

noparat rajathanee bureerom
land of nine noble gems, the royal city, the pleasant capital,

udomrajniwes mahasatarn
place of the grand royal palace,

amorn pimarn avaltarnsatit
forever land of angels and reincarnated spirits,

sakatattiya visanukram prasit
predestined and created by the highest devas.



Via the BBC

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit, meaning the 'City of Angels', is known to the locals as Krungthep Mahanakhon. The rest of the world knows it as Bangkok, Thailand. However, it is not recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest place name as it is not used on a daily basis by the locals.

The place with the longest name in common usage is a 252 metre high hill in Central Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Taumata whaka tangi hanga koauau o tamatea turi pukakapi ki maunga horo nuku poka i whenua kitana tahu translates as the 'place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as land-eater, played his flute to his loved one'. This is the place name recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. It is sometimes written without the spaces as one long word.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch currently has the prestige of having the UK's longest place name.



Llanfairpwllgwyngyll (long form Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch), also spelt Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll and commonly known as Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll, is a village and community on the island of Angelesy in Wales , situated on the Menai Strait next to Menai Bridge and across the strait from Bangor.













Officials have agreed to correct spelling errors in road signs pointing to a central Massachusetts lake with a 45-letter name.

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg in Webster has one of the world’s longest place names. It’s been spelled many different ways over the years. Some locals have given up and simply call it Lake Webster.

But after researching historical spelling combinations, the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester said local Chamber of Commerce officials agreed that some signs were wrong. There was an “o” at letter 20 where a “u” should have been, and an “h” at letter 38 where an “n” should go.