O'Malley
/oʊˈmæli/
"o-malley" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“O'Malley” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #21,015 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #21,015
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname from Irish.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | O'Malley |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /oʊˈmæli/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #21,015 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “O'Malley” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for O'Malley is 8 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /oʊˈmæli/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,015 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 from Irish.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for O'Malley, with forms such as "'omalley", "o'amlley", and "o'malely". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Anglicisation of the Irish surname Ó Máille meaning "from/of Umaill". The name's origin is uncertain, but compare *maglos (“noble”), mall (“slow, stately”), málla (“pleasant”). The correct English form is O'Malley, spelled O-'-M-A-L-L-E-Y.
Definition
- 1A surname from Irish.
Etymology
Anglicisation of the Irish surname Ó Máille meaning "from/of Umaill". The name's origin is uncertain, but compare *maglos (“noble”), mall (“slow, stately”), málla (“pleasant”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: 'omalley,o'amlley,o'malely,o'maley,o'malleyy,o'mallye,o'mlaley,o'mmalley,om'alley
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of O'Malley - 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'Malley"?
What does "O'Malley" mean?
What are common misspellings of "O'Malley"?
How do you pronounce "O'Malley"?
What is the origin of the word "O'Malley"?
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Using “O'Malley”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-'-M-A-L-L-E-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /oʊˈmæli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.