Macpherson
"macpherson" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Macpherson” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #27,910 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #27,910
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 16
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname, alternative form of MacPherson, including in Singapore.
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 | Macpherson |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #27,910 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Macpherson” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Macpherson is 10 letters long, classified as a proper noun. Corpus data places it at rank #27,910 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A surname, alternative form of MacPherson, including in Singapore.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for Macpherson, with forms such as "amcpherson", "maccpherson", and "machperson". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "McPherson", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: See McPherson. The correct English form is Macpherson, spelled M-A-C-P-H-E-R-S-O-N.
Definition
- 1A surname, alternative form of MacPherson, including in Singapore.
Etymology
See McPherson.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amcpherson,maccpherson,machperson,macpehrson,macpherosn,macpherrson,macphersno,macphersonn,macphersson,macphesron,macphherson,macphreson,macppherson,mapcherson,mcapherson,mmacpherson
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Macpherson - 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 "Macpherson"?
What does "Macpherson" mean?
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Using “Macpherson”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-C-P-H-E-R-S-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “McPherson” - see the side-by-side comparison. Macpherson vs McPherson
- 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.