January

/ˈd͡ʒæn.jʊ.ə.ɹi/

//ˈd͡ʒæn.jʊ.ə.ɹi// name

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

"january" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“January” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #851. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#851
frequency rank, English
796
“J” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The first month of the Gregorian calendar, following the December of the previous year and preceding February.

Corpus desk

Index EN-january · January · English

January · rank #851 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-CORE #851
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 796
  • PHOTO-FINISH French

Nearest frequency peer: French (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “January”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “January” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

January vs jaguar
57% similar

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

Key facts for January
PropertyValue
HeadwordJanuary
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈd͡ʒæn.jʊ.ə.ɹi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#851
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “January”

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).Januarylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “French” (#850), “kill” (#852), “entire” (#849). Among 796 “J” headwords, “January” is #851. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around January (IPA /ˈd͡ʒæn.jʊ.ə.ɹi/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #851 among 796 “J” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for January, with forms such as "ajnuary", "janaury", and "jannuary". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "jaguar", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-der. Latin iānus Latin Iānus Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āsios Latin -arius Latin Iānuāriusder. Anglo-Norman geneverbor. Middle English Janevere Middle English Januarie English January From Middle En… The correct English form is January, spelled J-A-N-U-A-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The first month of the Gregorian calendar, following the December of the previous year and preceding February.
  2. 2
    A female given name transferred from the month name [in turn from English].

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Holonyms: calendar year; year
  2. 01/01/09 : Thursday, 1st January(,) 2009.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-der. Latin iānus Latin Iānus Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āsios Latin -arius Latin Iānuāriusder. Anglo-Norman geneverbor. Middle English Janevere Middle English Januarie English January From Middle English Januarie, januari, re-latinised forms of Middle English Janevere, Ieneuer, from Anglo-Norman genever, from Latin Iānuārius (“(month) of Janus”), a compound of Iānus ("Janus") + -ārius (adjectival suffix), with the first element perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *yeh₂- (“to go”). Doublet of Gennaro.

This word in other languages

enero(Español)janvier(Français)Januar(Deutsch)janeiro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ajnuary
  • janaury
  • jannuary
  • januarry
  • januaryy
  • januayr
  • januray
  • jaunary
  • jjanuary
  • jnauary

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of January - 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.

ajnuary2janaury2jannuary1januarry1januaryy1januayr2januray2jaunary2
Edit distance from "January"

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 "January"?
"January" is spelled J-A-N-U-A-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈd͡ʒæn.jʊ.ə.ɹi/.
What does "January" mean?
As a proper noun, "January" means: The first month of the Gregorian calendar, following the December of the previous year and preceding February.
What words are commonly confused with "January"?
"January" is commonly confused with "jaguar". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "January"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "January" is /ˈd͡ʒæn.jʊ.ə.ɹi/. 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 "January"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂-der. Latin iānus Latin Iānus Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āsios Latin -arius Latin Iānuāriusder. Anglo-Norman geneverbor. Middle English Janevere Middle English Januarie English January From... 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 "January", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

perhaps#854decided#846release#856website#860

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

French10 variantsarticle10 variantscouncil10 variantsrelated10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list