English homophones
Townsend/Townshend
"Townsend" (#14,855 written frequency) beats "Townshend" (#45,709) in this 2-word /ˈtaʊn.zənd/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /ˈtaʊn.zənd/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "Townsend" leads at #14,855, with "Townshend" trailing at #45,709.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "towns" then splits - "Townsend" (8 letters) vs "Townshend" (9).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across Townsend, Townshend: denostw. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
Townsend
8 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCCVCC
Inventory denostw · no private letters vs siblings
Townshend
9 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCCCVCC
Inventory dehnostw · private h
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "Townsend" when you mean: A surname.
- Write "Townshend" when you mean: A surname.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (Townsend, Townshend). Here's where to go from here.
- "Townsend" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #14,855 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: Taurus · torus. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "Townsend, Townshend" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.