kuya

noun

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

The verdict

“kuya” is uncommon English (frequency #93,890 among 9,255 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#93,890
frequency rank, English
9,255
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An elder brother.

Key facts for kuya
PropertyValue
Headwordkuya
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#93,890
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “kuya” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). kuya lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

kuya is uncommon English at frequency #93,890 among 9,255 “K” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for kuya in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Tagalog kuya, from Hokkien 哥仔 (*ko-iá). The correct English form is kuya, spelled K-U-Y-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    An elder brother.
  2. 2
    A respectful title or form of address for an older man.

Etymology

From Tagalog kuya, from Hokkien 哥仔 (*ko-iá).

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 "kuya"?
"kuya" is spelled K-U-Y-A.
What does "kuya" mean?
As a noun, "kuya" means: An elder brother.
What is the origin of the word "kuya"?
From Tagalog kuya, from Hokkien 哥仔 (*ko-iá). 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.

Using “kuya”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is K-U-Y-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list