McAlester

name

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

"mcalester" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“McAlester” is uncommon English (frequency #85,501 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,501
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mcalester · McAlester · English

McAlester · rank #85,501 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,501
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH McCleary

Nearest frequency peer: McCleary (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “McAlester”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “McAlester” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for McAlester
PropertyValue
HeadwordMcAlester
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters9
Frequency rank#85,501
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “McAlester” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).McAlesterfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “McCleary” (#85,502), “Maxey” (#85,499), “McFall” (#85,504). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “McAlester” is #85,501. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

McAlester is uncommon English at frequency #85,501 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for McAlester in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Variant of McAllister. The correct English form is McAlester, spelled M-C-A-L-E-S-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A surname from Scottish Gaelic.
  2. 2
    A city, the county seat of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, United States.

Etymology

Variant of McAllister.

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 "McAlester"?
"McAlester" is spelled M-C-A-L-E-S-T-E-R.
What does "McAlester" mean?
As a proper noun, "McAlester" means: A surname from Scottish Gaelic.
What is the origin of the word "McAlester"?
Variant of McAllister. 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 "McAlester", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Macartney#85,474luxuriate#85,470motioning#85,541licencing#85,453

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list