Hortense
/ˈhɔː(ɹ)tɛns/
"hortense" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Hortense” is uncommon English (frequency #53,003 among 23,837 “H” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #53,003
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female given name from French.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Hortense |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈhɔː(ɹ)tɛns/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #53,003 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Hortense” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Hortense is uncommon English at frequency #53,003 among 23,837 “H” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈhɔː(ɹ)tɛns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for Hortense in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the French form of the Latin Hortēnsia, feminine form of Hortēnsius (“name of a Roman gens”), probably derived from hortēnsis (“having to do with gardens”) on the basis that the first to bear the name was a gardener. The correct English form is Hortense, spelled H-O-R-T-E-N-S-E.
Definition
- 1A female given name from French.
- 2An unincorporated community in Brantley County, Georgia, United States.
Etymology
From the French form of the Latin Hortēnsia, feminine form of Hortēnsius (“name of a Roman gens”), probably derived from hortēnsis (“having to do with gardens”) on the basis that the first to bear the name was a gardener.
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 “Hortense”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-O-R-T-E-N-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhɔː(ɹ)tɛns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.