Joshua
/ˈd͡ʒɒʃ(j)ʊə/
"joshua" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Joshua” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,054 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #8,054
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The sixth book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and a book of the Tanakh.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Joshua |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒɒʃ(j)ʊə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #8,054 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Joshua” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Joshua is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈd͡ʒɒʃ(j)ʊə/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,054 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Joshua, with forms such as "jjoshua", "johsua", and "joshau". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Josh", "joshi", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Biblical Hebrew יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshúa'), perhaps from הוֹשֵׁעַ (Hoshéa') with addition of יהוה (YHWH, “Yahweh”), thus meaning "Yahweh is salvation". See הוֹשִׁיעַ (hoshía', “to save”). By cognate a direct equivalent to Jesus via Latin Iēsūs and Ancient … The correct English form is Joshua, spelled J-O-S-H-U-A.
Definition
- 1The sixth book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and a book of the Tanakh.
- 2The son of Nun, Judge of Israel following Moses; author of the Book of Joshua; Quranic figure.
- 3A male given name from Hebrew.
- 4A surname, transferred from the given name
- 5A city in Johnson County, Texas, United States, named after the biblical Joshua.
Etymology
From Biblical Hebrew יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshúa'), perhaps from הוֹשֵׁעַ (Hoshéa') with addition of יהוה (YHWH, “Yahweh”), thus meaning "Yahweh is salvation". See הוֹשִׁיעַ (hoshía', “to save”). By cognate a direct equivalent to Jesus via Latin Iēsūs and Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs) from Aramaic יֵשׁוּע (Yēšū́ʿ), akin to Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshúa'), a variant of Yehoshúa'. The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament consistently render the two Hebrew names Yehoshúa' (whence Joshua) and Yeshúa' (whence Jeshua) into Koine Greek as Iēsoûs (whence Jesus).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: jjoshua,johsua,joshau,joshhua,josshua,josuha,jsohua,ojshua
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Joshua - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “Joshua”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is J-O-S-H-U-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈd͡ʒɒʃ(j)ʊə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Josh” - see the side-by-side comparison. Joshua vs Josh
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.