Luke

/lyk/

//lyk// name

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

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

The verdict

“Luke” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,312. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,312
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A male given name.

Corpus desk

Index EN-luke · Luke · English

Luke · rank #3,312 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,312
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH mac

Nearest frequency peer: mac (+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 neighbourhood for “Luke”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “Luke” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

Luke vs lux
25% similar
Luke vs luv
25% similar
Luke vs luz
25% similar

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

Key facts for Luke
PropertyValue
HeadwordLuke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/lyk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,312
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Luke” sits in English frequency

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).Lukelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “mac” (#3,313), “Jeff” (#3,310), “math” (#3,314). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around Luke (IPA /lyk/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #3,312 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Luke, with forms such as "lkue", "lluke", and "luek". 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, "lux", "luv", "luz", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Lūcās, from Koine Greek Λουκᾶς (Loukâs). See the Greek entry for more. The correct English form is Luke, spelled L-U-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A male given name.
  2. 2
    Luke the Evangelist, an early Christian credited with the authorship of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.
  3. 3
    The Gospel of St. Luke, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the third of the four gospels.
  4. 4
    An English surname originating as a patronymic, a variant of Luck.
  5. 5
    An Irish surname originating as a patronymic, a later anglicization of Lúcás (Lucas).
  6. 6
    A village in Čajniče, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  7. 7
    A village in Hadžići, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  8. 8
    A village in Pale, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  9. 9
    A village in Tartu, Estonia.
  10. 10
    A village in Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia.
  11. 11
    A village in Moravica district, Serbia.
  12. 12
    A town in Maryland, United States; named for papermaker William Luke.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "Your parents like Cool Hand Luke, yes?" "I don't really know. Why?" "Why? Because they name you Luke." I was worried I might have to explain that my name wasn't all that uncommon, and, anyway, Claudia had named me after the alter ego of Hank Williams, Luke the Drifter.
  2. The engineers are Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran.

Etymology

From Latin Lūcās, from Koine Greek Λουκᾶς (Loukâs). See the Greek entry for more.

This word in other languages

Lucas(Español)Luc(Français)Lukas(Deutsch)Lucas(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lkue
  • lluke
  • luek
  • lukke
  • ulke

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

lkue2lluke1luek2lukke1ulke2
Edit distance from "Luke"

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 "Luke"?
"Luke" is spelled L-U-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /lyk/.
What does "Luke" mean?
As a proper noun, "Luke" means: A male given name.
What words are commonly confused with "Luke"?
"Luke" is commonly confused with "lux", "luv", "luz". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Luke"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Luke" is /lyk/. 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 "Luke"?
From Latin Lūcās, from Koine Greek Λουκᾶς (Loukâs). See the Greek entry for more. 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 "Luke", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Jeff#3,310math#3,314gray#3,304fort#3,302

Similar misspelling depth

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

duke5 variantsRome5 variantsangel5 variantsacid5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "Luke". Here's where to go from here.

  • "Luke" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "lux". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #3,312 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "L" letter cohort. L–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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