Maria
/məˈɹiːə/
"maria" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Maria” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,031 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #4,031
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female given name from Hebrew.
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 | Maria |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /məˈɹiːə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #4,031 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Maria” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Maria is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /məˈɹiːə/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,031 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for Maria, with forms such as "amria", "maira", and "marai". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MIA", "MRI", "mark", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία (María), Μαριάμ (Mariám), from Aramaic מרים (Maryām), corresponding to the Hebrew מרים (Miryām). Doublet of Mary, Marie, and Miriam. The correct English form is Maria, spelled M-A-R-I-A.
Definition
- 1A female given name from Hebrew.
- 2Synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, in Latin, Spanish, etc. contexts.
- 3A surname originating as a matronymic.
Etymology
From Latin Maria, from Ancient Greek Μαρία (María), Μαριάμ (Mariám), from Aramaic מרים (Maryām), corresponding to the Hebrew מרים (Miryām). Doublet of Mary, Marie, and Miriam.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amria,maira,marai,marria,mmaria,mraia
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Maria - 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
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Using “Maria”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-R-I-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /məˈɹiːə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “MIA” - see the side-by-side comparison. Maria vs MIA
- 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.