Durham

/ˈdʌ.ɹəm/

//ˈdʌ.ɹəm// name

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

"durham" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Durham” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,883. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,883
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A county in the Northeast of England; in full, County Durham.

Corpus desk

Index EN-durham · Durham · English

Durham · rank #9,883 · 9 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,883
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH drones

Nearest frequency peer: drones (-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 “Durham”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Durham” 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).

Durham vs durian
50% similar
Durham vs dram
50% similar
Durham vs dura
50% similar

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

Key facts for Durham
PropertyValue
HeadwordDurham
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈdʌ.ɹəm/
Letters6
Frequency rank#9,883
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Durham”

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).Durhamlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “drones” (#9,882), “ecological” (#9,884), “ecosystem” (#9,885). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “Durham” is #9,883. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Durham (IPA /ˈdʌ.ɹəm/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #9,883 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 24 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Durham, with forms such as "ddurham", "druham", and "duhram". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "durian", "dram", "dura", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old English Dūnholm, meaning "hill islet". In order to get from Dunholm to Durham, two major processes had to take place. Firstly, the n at the coda of the first syllable, dun, underwent dissimilation. Specifically, by influence of the m in the coda of… The correct English form is Durham, spelled D-U-R-H-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A county in the Northeast of England; in full, County Durham.
  2. 2
    A city, the county town of County Durham, England.
  3. 3
    A unitary authority of County Durham, which replaced the county council in 2009 in all of County Durham except Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees; in full, Durham County Council.
  4. 4
    An English habitational surname from Old English from the city in England.
  5. 5
    An outback town in Queensland, Australia.
  6. 6
    A locale in Canada.
  7. 7
    A locale in Canada.
  8. 8
    A locale in Canada.
  9. 9
    A locale in the United States.
  10. 10
    A locale in the United States.
  11. 11
    A locale in the United States.
  12. 12
    A locale in the United States.
  13. 13
    A locale in the United States.
  14. 14
    A locale in the United States.
  15. 15
    A locale in the United States.
  16. 16
    A locale in the United States.
  17. 17
    A locale in the United States.
  18. 18
    A locale in the United States.
  19. 19
    A locale in the United States.
  20. 20
    A locale in the United States.
  21. 21
    A locale in the United States.
  22. 22
    A locale in the United States.
  23. 23
    A locale in the United States.
  24. 24
    A locale in the United States.

Etymology

From Old English Dūnholm, meaning "hill islet". In order to get from Dunholm to Durham, two major processes had to take place. Firstly, the n at the coda of the first syllable, dun, underwent dissimilation. Specifically, by influence of the m in the coda of the following syllable (holm), said n denasalised and lenited to the oral r, thus dur. Secondly, after a weakening of the vowel quality in the more weakly-stressed syllable holm, this ending was misanalysed as the similar-sounding toponymic suffix, -ham, meaning home or farm. Doublet of Duresm and Dunelm.

This word in other languages

Durham(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddurham
  • druham
  • duhram
  • durahm
  • durhamm
  • durhham
  • durhma
  • durrham
  • udrham

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddurham1druham2duhram2durahm2durhamm1durhham1durhma2durrham1
Edit distance from "Durham"

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 "Durham"?
"Durham" is spelled D-U-R-H-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdʌ.ɹəm/.
What does "Durham" mean?
As a proper noun, "Durham" means: A county in the Northeast of England; in full, County Durham.
What words are commonly confused with "Durham"?
"Durham" is commonly confused with "durian", "dram", "dura". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Durham"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Durham" is /ˈdʌ.ɹəm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Durham"?
From Old English Dūnholm, meaning "hill islet". In order to get from Dunholm to Durham, two major processes had to take place. Firstly, the n at the coda of the first syllable, dun, underwent dissimilation. Specifically, by influence of the m in t... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "Durham", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

drones#9,882drawer#9,880exempt#9,889depths#9,873

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

exclude9 variantsfloods9 variantscosmic9 variantschopped9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list