Ames

/eɪmz/

//eɪmz// name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ames" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Ames” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,633. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,633
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A surname.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ames · Ames · English

Ames · rank #16,633 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,633
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH acrylic

Nearest frequency peer: acrylic (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Ames”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “Ames” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Ames vs as
25% similar
Ames vs are
25% similar
Ames vs ass
25% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Ames
PropertyValue
HeadwordAmes
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/eɪmz/
Letters4
Frequency rank#16,633
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Ames”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Ameslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “acrylic” (#16,632), “anchorage” (#16,634), “accuses” (#16,631). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “Ames” is #16,633. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around Ames (IPA /eɪmz/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #16,633 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 14 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Ames, with forms such as "aems", "amess", and "ammes". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "as", "are", "ass", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is Ames, spelled A-M-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A surname.
  2. 2
    A number of places in the United States:
  3. 3
    A number of places in the United States:
  4. 4
    A number of places in the United States:
  5. 5
    A number of places in the United States:
  6. 6
    A number of places in the United States:
  7. 7
    A number of places in the United States:
  8. 8
    A number of places in the United States:
  9. 9
    A number of places in the United States:
  10. 10
    A number of places in the United States:
  11. 11
    A number of places in the United States:
  12. 12
    A number of places in the United States:
  13. 13
    A commune in Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France, France.
  14. 14
    A municipality in A Coruña province, Galicia, Spain.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how Ames appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Adolfo Martinez, 30, of Ames last month was found guilty of a hate crime – a class "D" felony – third-degree harassment and reckless use of fire.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aems
  • amess
  • ammes
  • amse
  • maes

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Ames - 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.

aems2amess1ammes1amse2maes2
Edit distance from "Ames"

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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Ames"?
"Ames" is spelled A-M-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /eɪmz/.
What does "Ames" mean?
As a proper noun, "Ames" means: A surname.
What words are commonly confused with "Ames"?
"Ames" is commonly confused with "as", "are", "ass". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Ames"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Ames" is /eɪmz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Ames" come from?
"Ames" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Ames", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Cary#16,661Trey#16,604sire#16,586defy#16,683

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

Boone5 variantsdiva5 variantsElias5 variantshaze5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list