Paul
/pɔːl/
"paul" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Paul” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #997. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #997
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - In the New Testament, Saul, Apostle to the Gentiles and author of fourteen epistles.
Corpus desk
Index EN-paul · Paul · English
Paul · rank #997 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #997
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH pain
Nearest frequency peer: pain (-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 “Paul”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- married
married
99,007 corpus weight
- officer
officer
99,006 corpus weight
- pain
pain
99,005 corpus weight
- Paul
Paul
99,004 corpus weight
- places
places
99,003 corpus weight
- respect
respect
99,002 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “Paul” 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 | Paul |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /pɔːl/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #997 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Paul” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around Paul (IPA /pɔːl/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #997 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Paul, with forms such as "apul", "palu", and "paull". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PL", "PU", "put", 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 Latin Paulus, from paulus (“small”). Doublet of Pablo and Paolo. The correct English form is Paul, spelled P-A-U-L.
Definition
- 1In the New Testament, Saul, Apostle to the Gentiles and author of fourteen epistles.
- 2A male given name from Latin of biblical origin.
- 3A surname originating as a patronymic.
- 4A place name:
- 5A place name:
- 6A place name:
- 7A place name:
- 8A place name:
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Paul appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.
'He will be christened Paul, my - Mrs Dombey - of course.' She feebly echoed, 'Of course,' or rather expressed it by the motion of her lips, and closed her eyes again. 'His father's name, Mrs Dombey, and his grandfather's! I wish his grandfather were alive this day! There is some inconvenience in the necessity of writing Junior,' said Mr Dombey, making a…
Etymology
From Latin Paulus, from paulus (“small”). Doublet of Pablo and Paolo.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- apul
- palu
- paull
- ppaul
- pual
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Paul - 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Paul", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "Paul". Here's where to go from here.
- "Paul" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "PL". View pair
- 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #997 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.