Listening Practice for English Names

These two listening practices focuses on listening for English names. This practice is important for students preparing for their IELTS test as well as other students studying English or planning to move to the UK.

Below are TWO LISTENING PRACTICE EXERCISES FOR NAMES.

You will find more useful tips for IELTS listening, after the practice exercise, lower on this page.

Instructions for Listening Practice

You should listen to the recordings and write down the names you hear.

Before you listen, please make sure you watch English Names Tips for Listening Video.

  • Don’t forget to listen for titles. Some will have titles and other won’t. If there is a title, you must write it.
  • Write down the complete name given.
  • Some names will be spelled and others will not.
  • You can learn some common English names here: Boys Name and Girls Names
  • All free listening practice and tips: IELTS Listening Main Page

Capital letters: Please see this page: Using capital letters in IELTS

Listening Practice for Names 1

You will hear 10 names. Listen and write down what you hear.

 

Answers

Click below to reveal the answers:

Answers
  1. David Darwin
  2. Mrs Alice Smith
  3. Balthazar Jones
  4. Sara Bartholomew
  5. Sean Bean
  6. Mr Frank Allenson
  7. A R Beevers
  8. James Chichester
  9. Mary Schooling
  10. Sir Paul McKellen

 

Listening Practice for Names 2

You now have a chance to listen again to 10 new names. Think about the mistakes you made in the previous practice and see if you can improve.

 

Answers

Click below to reveal the answers:

Answers
  • Dr Davis
  • Richard Chamberlain
  • Miss Victoria Halley
  • Mr C J Billings
  • Robert Powers
  • Emily Jackson
  • Nora Ingalls
  • Mrs Caroline Castle
  • Charles Pringle
  • Emma Ford

Capital letters are not needed and are not marked so don’t worry if you use them or not. See this page: IELTS Exam FAQ

 

More IELTS Listening Practice

To get more tips and also free listening practice. See my MAIN IELTS LISTENING PAGE

Main IELTS Pages

Develop your IELTS skills with tips, lessons, free videos and more.

Get my free lessons by email

Subscribe for free to get my new IELTS lessons sent to your email inbox.

 

 

Comments

  1. Shalindi says

    David Darwin
    Mrs Alice Smith
    Balthazar Johnes
    Sera Bartholomew
    Sean Bean
    Mr Frank Allenson
    A R Beevers
    James Chichester
    Mary Schooling
    Sapol Mckellen

    Dr Davis
    Richard Chamberlain
    Miss Victoria Halley
    Mr C J Billings
    Robert Powers
    Emily Jackson
    Nora Ingalls
    Mrs Caroline Castle
    Charles Pringle
    Ema Ford

  2. Karan Gaba says

    Hi Liz.

    In the second name, the option could be Johns or Jones. Are both going to be considered correct?

  3. Hi Liz, I have a question.
    I was practicing listening test from Cambridge book 13. I came across the word cafe, which is written as cafe`
    So how do I write this word in computer based test in the 💻 computer.

    Eagerly waiting for your revert,
    Thanking you in advance,
    Anshika Alva.

  4. Sagar Verma says

    HI, thanks Liz for your useful stuff. Well. I got 6/10

    My query is-
    – In question 6, EMILY is the right answer, I guess it is with EMILI or AMILI.
    – In question 10, EMMA is the right answer, but I prepare it with EMA or IMA

    So what can we do for these little word confusions. As we can learn common names but every name is not possible so far. Kindly take this.

    • The name Emily is nearly always spelled “Emily”. If the spelling is different, the recording will say “Emily with an “li” at the end. The letters “Amili” or “Amily” are pronounced very differently with an “a” sound at the start like “apple” instead of “Emily” similar to the “e” in “elephant”. The same applies for your second example.

  5. Adeniyi says

    This , was 95% Helful and useful

  6. Avinash Bayya says

    Hello, Liz! I would like to know, can I write the titles and names in all capital letters like:

    DR DAVIS
    RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN
    MISS VICTORIA HALLEY
    MR C J BILLINGS
    ROBERT POWERS

    ..
    .

    Well, am aware that you would be suggesting everyone write in capital letters for listening and reading sections. Have been going through all your good work and this is my first post. It will be a great help to me if you would clarify this doubt. Thank you.

    • I’m not sure what your question is. You have written your answers using capitals and you know I recommend this. So, what is your question? If I have already recommended something on this website, please don’t ask me to repeat it in a comment. I’ve spent loads of time writing page after page to give lots of advice and tips. Please learn from those pages.

  7. nikki says

    how do we know if they say elise or Alice for internationals it is hard to find the difference between e and a

  8. Shivani dimke says

    Hii Liz. I spelled Ms Victoria Halley and your answer said Miss Victoria Halley. Is Ms not the abbreviation for miss? If not then please let me know when you use Ms.

    • The title “Ms” is not the same as “Miss”. IT is not the same in meaning and it is not the same in pronunciation. Ms is for a women whose martial status we do not know.

      • Andrea says

        Hi Liz, I am still confused with the Ms. and Miss. May I know which one should be used? I used Ms. instead of Miss.

        • For IELTS Listening, you write down the one you hear. Otherwise, there is no situation in IELTS where you would need to use them.

  9. musaab says

    1-DAIVID DAWIN
    2-MRS. ALIS SMITH
    3-BALTHAZAA JONES
    4-BAATHOO ONEW
    5-SEAN
    6-MR. FRANK ALLENSON
    7-ARBEEVEAS
    8-JONES CHICHESTEA
    9-MARRY SHOOLING
    10-MCKELLEN

  10. Thin Myat Moe says

    Hello, teacher Liz. I got wrong with Ellis and Alice.
    What’s the difference Tr??

  11. Chiji Ndukauba says

    Please which of these can be termed correct?
    A.R. Beevers
    A R Beevers

    A previous lesson had the listening test answer “J.K. Rowling”

  12. Hi Liz,

    I spelt the last name in the second recording as Ema, but you spelt it as Emma. I also found out they are pronounced the same way.
    Are they both correct?

    • The common spelling is Emma. If the spelling is different from the common spelling, it will be spelled out letter by letter in the recording, or you will hear “my name is Emma, with only one m.” If you don’t hear the spelling in that way, you must use the common spelling: Emma.

  13. Vishnupriya says

    Hi Liz,
    Apologies in case somebody has already asked this question as I cant go through the whole comment section.
    My doubt is that in the video where you have given tips for the names to be written we wrote J.K.Rowling and full stops where as we had initials but here in the above case I see no full stops for “Mr C J Billings” so wanted to know how does this work ?

  14. pls can i also spell
    Darwin as Dawin
    more so how do i go past the part of
    Sir Paul… the pronunciation is a bit difficult.

    last can you mail me on your paid service?

    • The pronunciation would be different. “ar” sound instead of “A” sound. I don’t really have paid services. There are over 300 page of free lessons and tips on this site (read HOME page instructions). I also have Advanced writing task 2 lessons which you can purchase – see RED BAR at top of site.

  15. Lukasz says

    Could it also be Dr Davies? with “e”.
    Thanks

    • Davies and Davis are not pronounced the same. One has a long vowel and other other short.

  16. Sarah says

    1.Dr.Davis
    2.Richard Chamberlain
    3.Mrs. Victoria Halley
    4.Mr. C.J Billings
    5.Robert Powers
    6.Emily Jackson
    7.Nora Ingalls
    8.Mr. Caroline Castle
    9.Charles Pringle
    10.Ema Ford

  17. Roger R says

    I wrote Doctor Davis. Is this correct?

  18. Kershana says

    Hi Liz,

    Can I put dots in between initials or is it not mandatory?

  19. Hello Liz!
    Sorry if somebody has already asked this question but what is the difference in pronunciation of “miss” and “ms” ? How can I identify in listening part whether it’s miss or ms? I know that their meaning isn’t the same. For audio 2 name 3 I wrote down Ms Victoria Halley when the correct one is “miss”.
    Thanks for all your great work here! The materials are extremely helpful!

  20. Raj Nandha says

    I have a colleague with name Alys and when the recording mentioned Alice, former spelling came to my mind. I speak to her on regular basis and have found it to be pronounced in the same manner.

    • It is a rare and unusual spelling which I have never seen before. The name Alice is 99% of the time spelled as I have written it.

  21. Tariq Hussain says

    1. David Dawin
    2. Mrs. Alis Smith
    3. Balthazaa Jones
    4. Baathoo onew
    5. Saan Been
    6. Mr. Frank Allenson
    7. Aa Beeveas
    8. Jones Chichestea
    9. Marry Schooling
    10. Mckellen

  22. Satnam singh says

    Do Liz own any ielts institute ?? If yes where ? I would glad if liz open institute in my state 😅😅 i will be become partner 😁

  23. Rachel says

    Amazing help Liz… Thank you so much

  24. walter genco says

    Do not fully agree with these two practice exercises, as there are ambiguous names such as DAVIS/DAVIES, EMELY/EMILY, JONES/JOHNS. These should be spelled otherwise it is entirely left to personal decision. Do you agree? tHANKS

    • Davis and Davies are actually pronounced differently. Jones and Johns are also pronounced differently. The official spelling of Emily is Emily, not Emely. If the spelling changes, IELTS will highlight that in the recording by spelling each letter.

  25. Faeq Nabil says

    Thanks a lot mam..

    for ur valoauble information

  26. It’s very useful for who want more score in IELTS.

  27. Hello Liz, today was my exam, and I worry about one of the answers I gave in the listening part. The woman spelled initials J.R, but i wrote it without the dot JR, is that a mistake?

    • It’s fine.

      • Wow,I was wondering about this,as I also wrote my ielts today(also without the dot).
        Thank you Liz,your material is so very helpful!!

      • So basically, what it means is that it doesn’t matter whether you use the dot or not, right?
        Like if I writs Mrs. as opposed to Mrs or Mr. as opposed to Mr or Ms. as opposed o Ms.
        Or C.J. / C.J / CJ , they are all correct in ielts, right?

  28. Hello! I answered Mrs. (with a period) and A.R. Beevers instead of A R Beevers. Are my answers considered as wrong?

    • Your answer is correct. A dot is not needed.

      • Dr.Jatin Talwar says

        Liz , thanks for wonderful tutorial.
        As per your video tutorial , you insisted to put dots in initials ( J.K.Rowling i remember) . But here the answer 7 does not contain dots as in AR Beevers ?? Should it be A.R.Beevers instead as asked above
        Thanks for your patience and kind help
        Dr.Jatin Talwar

        • It is not necessary to use dots between initials. I did it in the video because it makes the letters easier to read – that’s all. Anything that makes things easier to read is a good thing.

  29. Marwa Ahmed says

    First of all i’d like to say thank you so much ,nevertheless i still have a question ;what will happen if i misspell only one letter of the name given or even spell the first name correctly but the surname incorrectly?
    thanks in advance

  30. In IELTS, or English in general, would writing Z and 7 with a small stroke through them be correct?

    • It’s a good question. The key is to make your answers very easy to read. I can’t answer this for you because there are no rules about it. Just make a decision that makes it easy for your answers to be marked.

  31. Rawia Obida says

    Hi Liz ,
    Thank you so much for your lesson, much appreciate that. may i ask you please , can i write Ms instead of Miss?

  32. Alejandra Ballesteros says

    Hi Liz

    First of all, I would like to thank you very much for you wonderful website, for your tips, advices and for everything you are doing for us 🙂 I have a question with exercise 2, can I write Doctor instead of Dr? I wrote Doctor Davis and the answer is Dr Davis

    Regards

    • Sure. DR is a standard way to write the title doctor. Also note I recommend using all capital letters for your listening and reading answers.

  33. Hi.Thanks for your useful lessons and practices. I want to know How can I download your listening files?

  34. Mohamed Anwar says

    Dear liz
    Thans for this reallh helpful lessons .. i have a problem with differentiation in spelling between B and P .. so what can i do to avoid this??

  35. Hi liz.
    you are truly a great tutor.
    can i get all lessons and practice material of SPEAKING section. its hard to find everything.
    if you can help me out in it.
    looking for your prompt answer

  36. Dear Liz,
    Your lessons had been so useful for me. Thank you so much.
    But, I couldn’t point out the difference between Norah ( Norah Jones – Singer ) and Nora or Emilie ( Emilie Livingston – Dancer ) and Emily ? These are also popular names and I thought the wrong options instead of right answers. How can we understand the difference by listening ? Do you have any suggestion ?
    Regards,

  37. pradip kafle says

    HY liz, is it compulsary to write preposition ..
    for eg;( in) morning or
    (the) train
    ( at) 5pm……

    `

  38. Oguzhan Konca says

    Hi Liz,
    First of all, I always use your materials while studying and my biggest weakness which is confused spelling between ‘a, e, i’. Can you add more practices to spelling names?
    Thank you

  39. Really Helpful!

  40. Hi Liz.
    For names with initials is it acceptable to write A. R. Beevers instead of A R Beevers?

    • Sure, it’s fine to use dots.

      • Hi Liz,

        In one of your listening lesson, you mentioned clearly to use dots(.) between initials of Name; whereas here you are referring initials without dots are also fine? Can you please let me know your concluding remarks about how to write initials ?

        Thanks in advance.

  41. Got 9/10. However the tenth question is dicey. The Sir and Paul sounds like one word. So I thuoght I heard “Sapple”

  42. Hi Liz,
    Which is the correct one?
    cultural center/ cultural centre
    Which spelling is preferable in writing the answer for listening test?

  43. Ahsan Rony says

    Thanks a lot…….

  44. I have 1 mistake in the second recording
    I wrote Cassel instead of Castle 🙁
    thanks for this tutorials
    very helpful

  45. Naresh Talari says

    Dear liz

    I have one doubt, in your recording for practicing names you have mentioned Sara Barthooomew, whereas in the answer sheet it’s Sara Bartholomew.

    Can you help me on this aspects.
    Rectify me if I am wrong.

  46. Junaid says

    your second record improved my listening skill before first recording and i wrote all names with clear spells. Thank you very much. And i am following all your videos to make sure that i can do this. preparing my self ..
    thank you once again Mam liz <3

  47. Jane George says

    Hi Liz,
    Is it okay to use a period in front of Mrs., or Mr.? For example, Mrs. Caroline .Or does is have to be Mrs Caroline

    • You can use a dot or not – it’s your choice. But usually we don’t use it nowadays.

  48. Hello Liz, thank you for creating an extremely useful website. I took some listening tests from British council’s website. When they spell out a word(in British accent), the ‘a’ exactly like ‘i’. I wonder why they pronounce ‘a’ like ‘i’, although I understand that this happens because I am not very used to British accent. So in my answer sheet i wrote ‘Miteo’ and ‘Helendile’ while the actual answers were Mateo and Helendale. So, I am guessing my answer would be marked wrong, right?

    • Spelling mistakes will mean the answer is marked wrong. Sorry. They are both extremely unusual names and even I wouldn’t be sure how to spell them.

  49. Taranjeet kaur says

    Hello mam,
    If i am using all capital letters in listening then what i need to use for mr, miss etc. Do i need to use like this. MISS TARAN . Is it correct.

    Thank you..

    • Yes.

      • Ams says

        Liz,you’re simply the best teacher I have ever come across in the whole world.
        It’s a great blessing to have you teach us.
        I appreciate you!

        Please, my question is, can Sir Paul McKellen be also written as SIR PAUL MCKELLEN?

        • Liz says

          It is fine to use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

          • Ams says

            Thank you Liz.I asked because of how the McKellen was spelt with both capital and small letters.
            Now I understand.Using capital letters is the safest way to go.
            Thank you for your prompt reply!

  50. Klint Gino Cutarra says

    I will finish practicing all listening lessons and this one’s the first.
    My results – I got A score in practice 2 even I doubted the spelling of Emma if it has one M or two Ms but I trusted my gut and made Emma Watson as an example. For practice 1, I misspelled one (family)name and that is McKellean. Lesson here is I need to be attentive next time.

    Thanks Liz and more powers!

  51. Obaid says

    Hi Liz,

    I find your website very useful. I have my exam in a few days.

    I just wanted to ask when are we supposed to use ‘Ms’ before a female’s name and when are we supposed to use ‘Miss’? Till now, I considered them one and the same.

    Thanks a lot for your help, and keep up the fantastic job of selflessly helping others!

  52. Varnika Tyagi says

    Hi Liz,

    Thanks for sharing great inputs. These sessions are really helpful, especially when we have limited time to prepare. I have a query on titles- Can Ms be an alternative for Miss?

  53. anmar says

    thank you liz for the information.
    if in the exam i write ” EMILLY” instead of ” EMILY”. will that be considered wrong??

    • If there is an official spelling of the name “Emily” with two Ls, then your answer would be acceptable.

  54. Thank you Liz… I’d like to know IELTS stand on names with controversial spellings…. The single L versus double L debates in names like Philip, Allison, Marshal, Elliot, Russell, Michelle, Lilly, Collin and so on. There are other names in this category such as Mathew vs Matthew… What do we do in instances where we don’t know the ‘right’ spelling

    • If the name is not spelled out, you will be able to use any official spelling of the name – single or double “L”.

  55. Tharaka says

    Dear Teacher,
    Thank you very much.
    This Site very useful for me.

    Tharaka from Sri Lanka.

  56. Mirza Rakib says

    OH dear,
    This website is very essential to me.I have learnt so many things from there…specially thanks to u Liz Madam

  57. Mirza Rakib says

    OH dear,
    This website is very essential to me.I have learn so many things from there…specially thanks to u Liz Madam

  58. Ali Raza says

    Dear Liz,
    I want to ask you something,i am going to take IELTS test next month.And i speak with stammer,i mean to say that i speak with stop and atop.Because it’s my tongue problem,i can’t speak with fluently.Please tell me it’s will create a band problem or not??
    please tell me i am so confused☺️

  59. Anum says

    Hey Liz,
    Can you please clear if writing down Dr. Mr. or Mrs. is right? or we do not need to put a full stop after Dr Mr or Mrs?
    also is it right to write Ms. Vitoria Halley instead of Miss Victoria Halley?

  60. Hi Liz,

    I tried another browser and I was able to complete second test. Thanks for you fabulous website 🙂

  61. Hi Liz,

    The second recording keeps stopping at minute 1:37. Unfortunately, I am not able to complete this test. My connection is fine, but I don’t know what is wrong. Thanks for your valuable learning website.

  62. Hey Its great ,i am little deaf but im using a hearing aid but i find it very hard to score more than 10 in listening task is there any way i could improve my score ? Thank you

    • If the problem is hearing, does it help to increase the volume? In the test, you can ask for the volume to be increased. If this is a medical condition, contact your local test center and discuss the situation with them.

  63. Nisha says

    Hi LiZ
    Many thanks for creating this website , I sat my test yesterday ,speaking I had topic about advertisement and in writing pat 2-it was about why do criminals continue doing crime after their stay in prison ,what could be done to avoid them,I approached they way you discussed it ,it worked like a charm ,keep up the good work

  64. aroosha says

    hi,
    LIZ i want to appear in IELTS test at the end of the APRIL 2017, my reading and writing skills are not good please help me.
    thank you.
    regards aroosha

  65. LIBIN JOHN says

    dear Liz
    your each topic was so useful for me , i am now learning from your site only. can you describe pie chart and other comparison chats for academic writing task 1

  66. Sameera says

    Hi Liz you’ve been of great help. I’ve been following you for quite sometime and almost achieved my desired score but couldn’t make it in listening as I was prepared to appear only through the headsets. But ironically had to answer with hall speakers.
    My scores were L7 R7 W7.5 S7
    I’m reappearing for 8th April’s test hopefully will get my desired scores.
    Thank you for your support. You are doing a great job.

    • You’ve done so well getting these results. Well done! It’s never good to go to a test center which uses loud speakers – it’s very distracting and often not good quality. Hopefully you can find a better test center and get the results you need. Good luck 🙂

      • Niranjan Mehendale says

        Hello Liz and Sameera,

        I have booked my test on 8th April at center ALI in Montreal, Canada.
        I came to know from my friend that in this center, they do not provide individual headsets and listening is done in the hall with a speaker common to all test takers. Also, hall room is not enough isolated to avoid disturbances from outside.

        Is it valid? If it is not where we can make a note or complain?

        Niranjan

        • Unfortunately some test centers still use lour speakers instead of headphones. This is a reason why it is important to check other test centers and make the choices that suit you.

  67. Obiora says

    Dear Liz,
    Want to thank you for your wonderful work! , I stick with you for few months and I am glad I have made my desired score (li= 8.5, sp= 7.0, wr= 7.5, re= 7.0)

    • Very well done!! You should be proud of your score. Thanks for letting me know 🙂

    • Hi. congratulation about your score..!!! It is so well…Do you have free time for speaking?

  68. Thanks for this recording. I did a single mistake in
    Recorder 1 but in 2 I made 3 mistakes.

  69. Nga Nguyen thi thanh says

    Thank you so much!

  70. Thank you teacher Liz.

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