O'Donnell
"o-donnell" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“O'Donnell” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,378 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #18,378
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname from Irish.
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 | O'Donnell |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #18,378 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “O'Donnell” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for O'Donnell is 9 letters long, classified as a proper noun. Corpus data places it at rank #18,378 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for O'Donnell, with forms such as "'odonnell", "o'ddonnell", and "o'dnonell". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "O'Connell", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Irish Ó Dónaill, Ó Domhnaill (“of Domhnall”). The correct English form is O'Donnell, spelled O-'-D-O-N-N-E-L-L.
Definition
- 1A surname from Irish.
- 2A place name:
- 3A place name:
- 4A place name:
Etymology
From Irish Ó Dónaill, Ó Domhnaill (“of Domhnall”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: 'odonnell,o'ddonnell,o'dnonell,o'donell,o'donenll,o'donnel,o'donnlel,o'odnnell,od'onnell
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of O'Donnell - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "O'Donnell"?
What does "O'Donnell" mean?
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What is the origin of the word "O'Donnell"?
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Using “O'Donnell”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-'-D-O-N-N-E-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “O'Connell” - see the side-by-side comparison. O'Donnell vs O'Connell
- 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.