The 50 Most Difficult Street Names in Michigan

When driving around Michigan, you'll find some pretty crazy street names. For those that have lived here all their lives, they don't think anything of the bizarre names. But when people visit Michigan from out-of-state, listening to them try to pronounce names like Schoenherr or Pewabic is incredibly entertaining.

A late night host was recently quizzed by Keegan-Michael Key to see if he could correctly pronounce three major Detroit-area street. He got none of the three correct.

Michigan Street Names: Top 3 Cultural Influences

Michigan was built by settlers from all over the world. The top three cultures that had the most influence on naming streets, cities and landmarks is French, German and the indiginous Native-Americans.

We were able to come of with a list of 50 street names in Michigan that are hard to pronounce from Michigan.gov and Bridge Michigan. Visit Detroit, ClickOnDetroit and DetroitMoxie also contributed to this list.

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50 Hard-to-Pronounce Michigan Street Names

Street Name	Phonetic Pronunciation	City/Area
Gratiot Avenue	GRASH-it	Detroit
Dequindre Road/Cut	də-KWIN-dər	Detroit / Macomb
Cadieux Road	cad-JOO	Detroit (East Side)
Livernois Avenue	LIVER-noy	Detroit
Schoenherr Road	SHOEN-er / SHAY-ner	Macomb County
Kercheval Avenue	KER-sha-val	Detroit / Grosse Pointe
Lahser Road	LAH-sər	Southfield / Bloomfield
Vernier Road	ver-NEER	Detroit / Grosse Pointe
Moross Road	muh-ROSS	Detroit
Goethe Street	GER-ta	Detroit
Beaubien Street	BO-byan	Detroit
Mackinac Avenue	MACK-in-aw	Statewide
Bois Blanc Road	BOB-low	Mackinac area
Charlevoix Avenue	SHAR-lə-voy	Detroit / Charlevoix
Cheboygan Street	shə-BOY-gən	Cheboygan
Zilwaukee Road	ZILL-wah-kee	Saginaw
Tuscola Street	TUSS-co-la	Flint area
Pewabic Street	pee-WAH-bik	Detroit
Shiawassee Street	shy-ah-WAH-see	Lansing
Negaunee Street	neh-GAW-nee	U.P.
Sault Ste. Marie Rd	SOO Saint Marie	U.P.
L’Anse Avenue	lahns	U.P.
LaGrange Street	la-GRANJ	Various cities
Lachine Road	lə-SHEEN	Alpena County
Hiawatha Street	hī-ə-WAH-tha	Statewide
Kawkawlin Road	kaw-KAW-lin	Bay County
Keweenaw Drive	KEE-weh-naw	U.P.
Kitch-iti-kipi Road	kih-chee-tee-kih-pee	U.P.
Ocqueoc Road	oh-KEY-ock	Presque Isle
Tittabawassee Road	tih-tuh-buh-WAS-see	Mid-Michigan
Onekama Road	oh-NEK-ə-mə	Manistee County
Manistique Avenue	MAN-uh-STEEK	U.P.
Manistee Road	MAN-uh-stee	Northwest MI
Au Gres Road	oh GRAY	Iosco County
Au Sable Road	oh SAY-bull	Oscoda
Epoufette Road	EP-oo-FET	Mackinac County
Gogebic Road	GOH-geh-bik / go-GEE-bik	U.P.
Goetzville Road	GAYTZ-vill	Chippewa County
Koehler Street	KOY-ler	Various
Koegel Street	KOE-gel	Flint area
Seul Choix Road	suhl-SHWAH	Mackinac County
Chesaning Road	cheh-SAN-ing	Central MI
Cohoctah Road	ko-HOK-tuh	Livingston County
Au Train Road	oh-TRAYN	Alger County
Dowagiac Street	doh-WAJ-ak	Southwest MI
Ionia Street	ih-OH-nee-ə	Ionia
Houghton Avenue	HOW-tən	U.P.
Ishpeming Street	ISH-puh-ming	U.P.
Munising Avenue	MOO-nih-sing	U.P.
Presque Isle Road	presk-EEL	Presque Isle