MacGregorvsMcGregorTell them apart

Which to use

“MacGregor” and “McGregor” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,065
“MacGregor” frequency rank
#14,164
“McGregor” frequency rank
46229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature MacGregor McGregor
Definition A surname. A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

Letter map: MacGregor vs McGregor

Shared letters muted; letters that set MacGregor and McGregor apart highlighted. Shared run: 8.

9 ch
MacGregor
8 ch
McGregor

Corpus notes: MacGregor and McGregor

MacGregor and McGregor are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

MacGregor is recorded at frequency rank #32,065, classified as aname. McGregor is at rank #14,164, tagged as aname, pronounced /məˈɡɹɛɡɚ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 46229, this pair ranks #213,776 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of MacGregor vs McGregor

Shared letters: cegmor. Private to "MacGregor": a. Private to "McGregor": -.

"MacGregor" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "McGregor" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • MacGregoramcgregor · maccgregor · macgergor · macggregor · macgreggor · macgregorr · macgregro · macgreogr
  • McGregorcmgregor · mccgregor · mcgergor · mcggregor · mcgreggor · mcgregorr · mcgregro · mcgreogr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "MacGregor" for "McGregor" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "MacGregor" vs "McGregor" - which ranks higher?
"McGregor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,164 in our English list, against #32,065 for "MacGregor". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "MacGregor" vs "McGregor" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "MacGregor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "McGregor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #213,776 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #213,776 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list