persona

/pɝˈsoʊnə/

//pɝˈsoʊnə// noun

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

"persona" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“persona” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,436. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,436
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A social role.

Corpus desk

Index EN-persona · persona · English

persona · rank #11,436 · 10 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,436
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Patterson

Nearest frequency peer: Patterson (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “persona”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “persona” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

persona vs persons
86% similar
persona vs Pierson
57% similar
persona vs personal
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for persona
PropertyValue
Headwordpersona
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɝˈsoʊnə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#11,436
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “persona”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).personalands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Patterson” (#11,435), “plaque” (#11,437), “objections” (#11,434). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “persona” is #11,436. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around persona (IPA /pɝˈsoʊnə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,436 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for persona, with forms such as "eprsona", "perosna", and "perrsona". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "persons", "Pierson", "personal", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin persōna (“mask; character”), of uncertain origin. Suggested to be from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask; masked individual; actor”), which could be a loan from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face; appearance; mask used in ancient th… The correct English form is persona, spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A social role.
  2. 2
    A character played by an actor.
  3. 3
    The mask or appearance one presents to the world.
  4. 4
    An imaginary person representing a particular type of client or customer, considered when designing products and services that will appeal to them.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how persona appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He keeps his online persona completely separate from his real-world one.
  2. The latest in a long line of dirty dating tactics to emerge is “wokefishing,” a term coined by writer Serena Smith. “People masquerade as holding progressive political views to ensnare potential partners,” Smith told Vice. Wokefishermen can be thought of like catfishers — those who use fake online personas to defraud victims — but only for sex instead of…

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin persōna (“mask; character”), of uncertain origin. Suggested to be from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask; masked individual; actor”), which could be a loan from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face; appearance; mask used in ancient theatre to denote a character or, more generally, a social role”). Doublet of person and parson.

This word in other languages

personaje(Español)personnage(Français)Persona(Deutsch)personagem(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eprsona
  • perosna
  • perrsona
  • persnoa
  • persoan
  • personna
  • perssona
  • pesrona
  • ppersona
  • presona

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of persona - 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.

eprsona2perosna2perrsona1persnoa2persoan2personna1perssona1pesrona2
Edit distance from "persona"

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 "persona"?
"persona" is spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-A. The IPA pronunciation is /pɝˈsoʊnə/.
What does "persona" mean?
As a noun, "persona" means: A social role.
What words are commonly confused with "persona"?
"persona" is commonly confused with "persons", "Pierson", "personal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "persona"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "persona" is /pɝˈsoʊnə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "persona"?
Borrowed from Latin persōna (“mask; character”), of uncertain origin. Suggested to be from Etruscan 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask; masked individual; actor”), which could be a loan from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face; appearance; mask used in ... 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 "persona", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Norwich#11,432princes#11,443mustard#11,428realism#11,449

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

scotch10 variantslastly10 variantssquirrel10 variantsinsured10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list