Petaluma
/ˌpɛtəˈlumə/
"petaluma" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Petaluma” is uncommon English (frequency #55,013 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,013
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A city in Sonoma County, California, United States.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Petaluma |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˌpɛtəˈlumə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #55,013 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Petaluma” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Petaluma is uncommon English at frequency #55,013 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˌpɛtəˈlumə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A city in Sonoma County, California, United States.".
Zero misspellings are on record for Petaluma in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Coast Miwok Péta Lúuma, meaning "backside of the ridge" or "sloping hill". The correct English form is Petaluma, spelled P-E-T-A-L-U-M-A.
Definition
- 1A city in Sonoma County, California, United States.
Etymology
From Coast Miwok Péta Lúuma, meaning "backside of the ridge" or "sloping hill".
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
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Using “Petaluma”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-T-A-L-U-M-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌpɛtəˈlumə/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.