Ida

/ˈaɪdə/

//ˈaɪdə// name

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

"ida" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Ida” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #15,833) as a proper noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#15,833
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female given name from the Germanic languages.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ida · Ida · English

Ida · rank #15,833 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,833
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH iced

Nearest frequency peer: iced (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “Ida”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “Ida” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

Ida vs in
0% similar
Ida vs is
0% similar
Ida vs it
0% similar

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

Key facts for Ida
PropertyValue
HeadwordIda
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈaɪdə/
Letters3
Frequency rank#15,833
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “Ida”

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).Idalands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “iced” (#15,832), “illustrator” (#15,834), “humiliating” (#15,831). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “Ida” is #15,833. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Ida is neighbouring look-alikes ("in", "is", …), not just typos; it is aproper noun pronounced /ˈaɪdə/. Frequency #15,833 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Gloss: "A female given name from the Germanic languages.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for Ida in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "in", "is", "it", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Short form of obsolete names beginning with Germanic īd "work", used for both sexes in medieval England. It was revived in the 19th century, partly mistaken for a Greek name, for the Mount Ida of classical mythology. The correct English form is Ida, spelled I-D-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female given name from the Germanic languages.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Ida appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "Ida!!!" "It is not a common, but an ancient name in Greece", said the diako,"and was borne by the wife of Lycastus and the mother of the Cretan Minos." Osmyn blushed to have been over-heard, and suffered his heart alone to repeat again the sweet and simple name of "Ida".
  2. That's what they called me," she said. "My real name's Ida." The old and vulgarised Grecian name recovered a little dignity

Etymology

Short form of obsolete names beginning with Germanic īd "work", used for both sexes in medieval England. It was revived in the 19th century, partly mistaken for a Greek name, for the Mount Ida of classical mythology.

This word in other languages

Ida(Deutsch)Ida(Português)

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 "Ida"?
"Ida" is spelled I-D-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈaɪdə/.
What does "Ida" mean?
As a proper noun, "Ida" means: A female given name from the Germanic languages.
What words are commonly confused with "Ida"?
"Ida" is commonly confused with "in", "is", "it". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Ida"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Ida" is /ˈaɪdə/. 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 "Ida"?
Short form of obsolete names beginning with Germanic īd "work", used for both sexes in medieval England. It was revived in the 19th century, partly mistaken for a Greek name, for the Mount Ida of classical mythology. 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 "Ida", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

GAO#15,820NPR#15,868che#15,773ren#15,896

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list