Hershel
"hershel" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Hershel” is uncommon English (frequency #58,744 among 23,837 “H” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,744
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male given name from Yiddish.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Hershel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #58,744 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Hershel” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Hershel is uncommon English at frequency #58,744 among 23,837 “H” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Hershel, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Yiddish הירשעל (hirshel), a diminutive of הירש (hirsh, “deer, buck”). The correct English form is Hershel, spelled H-E-R-S-H-E-L.
Definition
- 1A male given name from Yiddish.
- 2A surname originating as a patronymic.
Etymology
Borrowed from Yiddish הירשעל (hirshel), a diminutive of הירש (hirsh, “deer, buck”).
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 “Hershel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-E-R-S-H-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.