Charles
/t͡ʃɑɹlz/
"charles" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Charles” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,748 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #1,748
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male given name from the Germanic languages.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Charles |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /t͡ʃɑɹlz/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #1,748 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Charles” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Charles is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /t͡ʃɑɹlz/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,748 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for Charles, with forms such as "cahrles", "ccharles", and "chalres". 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, "charms", "chases", "Charli", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French Charles, from Old French Charles, Carles, from Latin Carolus, from and also reinfluenced by Frankish and Old High German Karl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“free man”); compare the English word churl and the German Kerl. In reference to the Ecu… The correct English form is Charles, spelled C-H-A-R-L-E-S.
Definition
- 1A male given name from the Germanic languages.
- 2A surname originating as a patronymic.
- 3A hamlet in Brayford parish, North Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS6832).
- 4A neighbourhood of Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
- 5Synonym of Floreana: an island of Galapagos, Ecuador.
Etymology
From French Charles, from Old French Charles, Carles, from Latin Carolus, from and also reinfluenced by Frankish and Old High German Karl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“free man”); compare the English word churl and the German Kerl. In reference to the Ecuadorian island, a clipping of the original name King Charles's Island, granted in honor of Charles II of England.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cahrles,ccharles,chalres,charels,charless,charlles,charlse,charrles,chharles,chrales,hcarles
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Charles - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “Charles”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-A-R-L-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /t͡ʃɑɹlz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “charms” - see the side-by-side comparison. Charles vs charms
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.