McDonald
[məkˈdɒnl̩d]
The verdict
“McDonald” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #32,664 in German word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #32,664
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - schottischer Familienname
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | McDonald |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | [məkˈdɒnl̩d] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #32,664 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “McDonald” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for McDonald is 8 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [məkˈdɒnl̩d]. Corpus data places it at rank #32,664 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "schottischer Familienname".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for McDonald, with forms such as "cmdonald", "mccdonald", and "mcddonald". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "McDonalds", "Macdonald", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is McDonald, spelled M-C-D-O-N-A-L-D.
Definition
- 1schottischer Familienname
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cmdonald,mccdonald,mcddonald,mcdnoald,mcdoanld,mcdonadl,mcdonaldd,mcdonalld,mcdonlad,mcdonnald,mcodnald,mdconald,mmcdonald
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of McDonald - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "McDonald"?
What does "McDonald" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "McDonald"?
How do you pronounce "McDonald"?
What language does "McDonald" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “McDonald”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is M-C-D-O-N-A-L-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [məkˈdɒnl̩d] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “McDonalds” - see the side-by-side comparison. McDonald vs McDonalds
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.