The Longest Place Names in the World

These place names are the stuff of legends. Literally, sort of.

Courtesy of World Translation Center.

If you have a thing for place names with a lot of letters (I don’t, but you might) then you’ve come to the right place. These names are bananas. Even a not-fussed-about-long-names person like me was thoroughly impressed. And my research also brought out a fun little surprise.

Ok. Ready. Steady. Go!

The Longest Name Award Goes To:

Officially, the place with the longest name in the world according to the Guiness World Records is — drumroll — Bangkok!

Wait. What? Yep. Bangkok. Capital of Thailand. That’s because Bangkok’s official name is:

Krungthepmahanakhonamonrattanakosinmahintharaayuthayamahadilokphopnoppharatratchathaniburiromudomratchaniwetmahasathanamonpimanawatansathitsakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit.

That’s 168 letters. Dang. That’s Thai-tanic.

Courtesy of Your Thai Guide.

Kaboom! Mind blown. Who knew? Not me. Bangkok — always surprising us. That 168-letter name is Bangkok’s ceremonial title (still counts). Though locals I’m told shorten it to either Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or Krung Thep.

In 2022, the Thai government generously declared that those using the roman alphabet (that’s most likely you and me) can use either Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or Bangkok. Thank you Thai government, we appreciate you.

Courtesy of TripAdvisor.

Ready for Two More Long Place Names?

The Second Longest Place Name Award Goes To:

Let me share two more stunners with you.

Next up, after Bangkok pulled a cheeky-one, we have a small but beautiful hill in New Zealand called:

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaunga
horonukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

85 letters. Solid.

Courtesy of Michael Durinik, Shutterstock.

Thankfully, locals shorten the name of this spot to Taumata or Taumata Hill. Taumata Hill is located on the North Island of New Zealand, near Pōrangahau.

Taumata in New Zealand. A name so long, even Google Maps shortens it. Thanks Google Maps.

Taumata comes from the Māori language and sources say it roughly translates to “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one” in Māori.

“Big knees”. Love the specificity.

The Third Longest Place Name Award Goes To:

Next — let’s fly from New Zealand to the other side of the world and land ourselves in Wales, United Kingdom.

Here we find ourselves in a small, quaint looking village with the 3rd longest place name on the planet called:

Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch.

That’s a modest 58 letters. Very respectable.

Courtesy of Conde Nast.

This town is also known as Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll for short.

The translation is something like “St Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel Near to the Rapid Whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the Red Cave.” Very Game of Thrones.

Courtesy of Google Maps.

What I love (perhaps, love the most) about Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogerychwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch is that the name was supposedly extended as a publicity stunt in 1869 to give the station the longest name of any railway station in Britain. To be fair, it was already a long name. An ecclesiastical directory from just before 1869 records the parish name as Llanfair­pwll­gwyn­gyll­goger­bwll­tysilio­gogo, with a note that locals almost always shortened it. In 1869 though, they decided long wasn’t long enough and added a few more letters to the mix. The Welsh … am I right?

And there you have it. Three places with names so long, even the locals bailed. Bangkok, New Zealand, Wales. The world and the people who name its places are quirkier than any of us gave them credit for. Even those of us who don't have a thing for long place names.