Is there a formal spelling for the English letter names?
Solution 1:
Formal yes, universal no. Here's one:
We have included each letter with its name and plural below the list of examples. The United States uses zee, while other countries use zed.
A a aes B bee bees C cee cees D dee dees E e ees F ef (verbal eff) efs (effs) G gee gees H aitch aitches I i ies J jay jays K kay kays L el or ell els or ells M em ems N en ens O o oes P pee pees Q cue cues R ar ars S ess (es as prefix) esses T tee tees U u ues V vee vees W double-u double-ues X ex exes Y wy or wye wyes Z zee or zed zees or zedsLetter names Each letter of the English alphabet can be spelled as itself (e.g., a DJ or T-shirt) or it can be spelled out using its name (e.g., a deejay or tee-shirt). Vowels still stand for themselves, and while very rare, the plural of vowels are made by adding -es. In the capitalized form the plurals are made by either -s or -‘s (e.g., L’s or As).
Spelling letters usually occurs in compound names or derivatives. These spellings are different than the phonetic alphabet used to distinguish similar sounding letters while speaking.
grammarist.com
Solution 2:
In comments, John Lawler first wrote:
No, not really. English spelling is so awful at recording pronunciation that there are too many ways to represent the pronounced letter names, and no ways that are unambiguous. So you see ee, ie, e, i, for instance for
E, o, oh, ow, ou forO, etc. Use phonemic symbols if you need accurate rendition of English sounds.
And then added:
I always want to pronounce
Was /'wəbəlyu/. It's particularly awful in abbreviations like the one for Western Washington University here in Bellingham. Western Washington University contains 10 syllables, but Double-U Double-U U contains 7; not much saving there; I tend to pronounce it as /'wuwu/.