Marlene

name

"marlene" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Marlene” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #24,820 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.

#24,820
frequency rank, English
7
letters
10
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female given name from Hebrew borrowed from German in early 20th century.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Marlene vs Marne
71% similar
Marlene vs Marley
71% similar
Marlene vs marlin
57% similar

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

Key facts for Marlene
PropertyValue
HeadwordMarlene
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters7
Frequency rank#24,820
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Marlene” 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). Marlene lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for Marlene is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun. Corpus data places it at rank #24,820 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A female given name from Hebrew borrowed from German in early 20th century.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Marlene, with forms such as "amrlene", "malrene", and "marelne". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "Marne", "Marley", "marlin", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From German Marlene. The correct English form is Marlene, spelled M-A-R-L-E-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female given name from Hebrew borrowed from German in early 20th century.

Etymology

From German Marlene.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: amrlene,malrene,marelne,marleen,marlenne,marllene,marlnee,marrlene,mmarlene,mralene

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Marlene - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

amrlene2malrene2marelne2marleen2marlenne1marllene1marlnee2marrlene1
Edit distance from "Marlene"

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 "Marlene"?
"Marlene" is spelled M-A-R-L-E-N-E.
What does "Marlene" mean?
As a proper noun, "Marlene" means: A female given name from Hebrew borrowed from German in early 20th century.
What words are commonly confused with "Marlene"?
"Marlene" is commonly confused with "Marne", "Marley", "marlin". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "Marlene"?
From German Marlene. 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 “Marlene”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is M-A-R-L-E-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “Marne” - see the side-by-side comparison. Marlene vs Marne
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list