Debra
/ˈdɛbɹə/
"debra" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Debra” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,572 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #19,572
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female given name from Hebrew popular in the 1950s and the 1960s.
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 | Debra |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɛbɹə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #19,572 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Debra” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Debra is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɛbɹə/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,572 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A female given name from Hebrew popular in the 1950s and the 1960s.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Debra, with forms such as "dbera", "ddebra", and "debar". 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, "der", "debt", "deer", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: A spelling variant of Deborah first used in the 20th century. The correct English form is Debra, spelled D-E-B-R-A.
Definition
- 1A female given name from Hebrew popular in the 1950s and the 1960s.
Etymology
A spelling variant of Deborah first used in the 20th century.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: dbera,ddebra,debar,debbra,debrra,derba,edbra
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Debra - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “Debra”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-B-R-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɛbɹə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “der” - see the side-by-side comparison. Debra vs der
- 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.