Imai

name

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

"imai" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Imai” is uncommon English (frequency #81,425 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,425
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A surname from Japanese.

Corpus desk

Index EN-imai · Imai · English

Imai · rank #81,425 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #81,425
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH imbibing

Nearest frequency peer: imbibing (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “Imai”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “Imai” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Imai
PropertyValue
HeadwordImai
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters4
Frequency rank#81,425
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Imai” in English

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).Imaifalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “imbibing” (#81,426), “iht” (#81,423), “imprisons” (#81,427). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “Imai” is #81,425. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Imai is uncommon English at frequency #81,425 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A surname from Japanese.".

Imai doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 今井 (Imai). The correct English form is Imai, spelled I-M-A-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    A surname from Japanese.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 今井 (Imai).

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 "Imai"?
"Imai" is spelled I-M-A-I.
What does "Imai" mean?
As a proper noun, "Imai" means: A surname from Japanese.
What is the origin of the word "Imai"?
Borrowed from Japanese 今井 (Imai). 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 "Imai", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ital#81,440Kamo#81,456kawa#81,460harr#81,389

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list