Lester
/ˈlɛstɚ/
"lester" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Lester” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,911 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #11,911
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname from Old English derived from the English place name Leicester.
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 | Lester |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɛstɚ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #11,911 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Lester” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Lester is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɛstɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,911 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Lester, with forms such as "elster", "lesetr", and "lesster". 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, "loser", "lever", "liter", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: * As an English surname, from the placename Leicester. * Also as an English surname of Norman origin, from Lestre in Normandy, from Old French Lestra, from Medieval Latin Laxtra, perhaps from extera (“exterior (part of a property)”). * As an English and Sco… The correct English form is Lester, spelled L-E-S-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1A surname from Old English derived from the English place name Leicester.
- 2A male given name transferred from the surname, of 19th century and later usage.
- 3A number of places in the United States:
- 4A number of places in the United States:
- 5A number of places in the United States:
- 6A number of places in the United States:
- 7A number of places in the United States:
- 8A number of places in the United States:
- 9A number of places in the United States:
Etymology
* As an English surname, from the placename Leicester. * Also as an English surname of Norman origin, from Lestre in Normandy, from Old French Lestra, from Medieval Latin Laxtra, perhaps from extera (“exterior (part of a property)”). * As an English and Scottish surname, variant of Lister. * Also as an English surname, variant of Laster. * As a Scottish and Irish surname, shortened from McLester.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elster,lesetr,lesster,lesterr,lestre,lestter,letser,llester,lseter
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Lester - 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.
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 "Lester"?
What does "Lester" mean?
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Using “Lester”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-S-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɛstɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “loser” - see the side-by-side comparison. Lester vs loser
- 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.