O'Neill
/əʊˈniːl/
"o-neill" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“O'Neill” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,572. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,572
- frequency rank, English
- 1,431
- “O” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - A surname from Irish.
Corpus desk
Index EN-o-neill · O'Neill · English
O'Neill · rank #11,572 · 6 variants · 3 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,572
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,431
- PHOTO-FINISH navigate
Nearest frequency peer: navigate (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “O'Neill”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- mets
mets
88,433 corpus weight
- mutually
mutually
88,431 corpus weight
- navigate
navigate
88,430 corpus weight
- O'Neill
O'Neill
88,429 corpus weight
- obese
obese
88,428 corpus weight
- outreach
outreach
88,427 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “O'Neill” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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'Neill |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /əʊˈniːl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #11,572 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “O'Neill” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around O'Neill (IPA /əʊˈniːl/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #11,572 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for O'Neill, with forms such as "'oneill", "o'enill", and "o'nelil". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "O'Reilly", "O'Neal", "O'Neil", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Anglicisation of an Irish surname meaning "descendant of Niall". The correct English form is O'Neill, spelled O-'-N-E-I-L-L.
Definition
- 1A surname from Irish.
- 2A city, the county seat of Holt County, Nebraska, United States.
Etymology
Anglicisation of an Irish surname meaning "descendant of Niall".
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- 'oneill
- o'enill
- o'nelil
- o'niell
- o'nneill
- on'eill
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of O'Neill - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "O'Neill"?
What does "O'Neill" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "O'Neill"?
How do you pronounce "O'Neill"?
What is the origin of the word "O'Neill"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "O'Neill", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
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.