Irma

name

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

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

The verdict

“Irma” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #28,258) as a proper noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#28,258
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
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-irma · Irma · English

Irma · rank #28,258 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,258
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH intracellular

Nearest frequency peer: intracellular (-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 “Irma”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “Irma” 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).

Irma vs IRS
25% similar
Irma vs ISA
25% similar
Irma vs Irv
50% similar

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

Key facts for Irma
PropertyValue
HeadwordIrma
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters4
Frequency rank#28,258
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “Irma”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).Irmalands 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 “intracellular” (#28,257), “Janus” (#28,261), “infuriating” (#28,254). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “Irma” is #28,258. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Irma is neighbouring look-alikes ("IRS", "ISA", …), not just typos; it is aproper noun. Frequency #28,258 among 2,140 “I” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for Irma, with forms such as "iram", "irmma", and "irrma". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "IRS", "ISA", "Irv", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From German Irma in the nineteenth century. Short form of Germanic names beginning with irm(en)-, erm(en) "whole, entire", from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz. Cognate with English Emma. The correct English form is Irma, spelled I-R-M-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female given name from the Germanic languages.
  2. 2
    A village in Alberta, Canada.
  3. 3
    A village in Lombardy, Italy.
  4. 4
    An unincorporated community in Wisconsin.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. - - -, she thanked God for Irma: thanked God that Irma's hair was rich and beautiful, that she had the aristocratic richness of a name like Irma and not the common poverty of a name like May or Flo;

Etymology

From German Irma in the nineteenth century. Short form of Germanic names beginning with irm(en)-, erm(en) "whole, entire", from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz. Cognate with English Emma.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • iram
  • irmma
  • irrma
  • rima

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Irma - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

iram2irmma1irrma1rima2
Edit distance from "Irma"

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 "Irma"?
"Irma" is spelled I-R-M-A.
What does "Irma" mean?
As a proper noun, "Irma" means: A female given name from the Germanic languages.
What words are commonly confused with "Irma"?
"Irma" is commonly confused with "IRS", "ISA", "Irv". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "Irma"?
From German Irma in the nineteenth century. Short form of Germanic names beginning with irm(en)-, erm(en) "whole, entire", from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz. Cognate with English Emma. 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 "Irma", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

jolt#28,265kami#28,269IAEA#28,245Kato#28,272

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list