# Cairns

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /kɛənz/ · frequency rank #19,776

## Definitions
1. A surname.
2. A city and port in Queensland, Australia, named after William Cairns.
3. A local government area in northern Queensland; in full, the Cairns Region.

## Etymology
* As a Scottish surname, from Scots cairn, describing a manmade heap or mound of stones.
* As an Irish surname, from Ó Ciaráin, Anglicized as Kieran and Kearns, sometimes conflated with the Scottish above.

## Easily confused with
- **cars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-cars)
- **cans** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-cans)
- **cards** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-cards)
- **cares** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-cares)
- **coins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-coins)
- **Cairo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-cairo)
- **carts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-carts)
- **carbs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-carbs)
- **Carne** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-carne)
- **chins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-chins)
- **chains** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-chains)
- **chairs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-chairs)
- **caverns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairns-vs-caverns)
- **Cain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cain-vs-cairns)
- **cair** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cair-vs-cairns)
- **cairn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cairn-vs-cairns)
- **Caicos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caicos-vs-cairns)

## Common misspellings (9)
`acirns`, `cainrs`, `cairnns`, `cairnss`, `cairrns`, `cairsn`, `carins`, `ccairns`, `ciarns`

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