# Xian vs xiao

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### Xian
*name · frequency rank #37,296*
Alternative spelling of Xi'an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi, in central China.

### xiao
*noun · IPA /ʃjaʊ/ · frequency rank #19,744*
A type of Chinese flute.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/xian-vs-xiao