Richard
/ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.əd/
"richard" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Richard” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,703 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #1,703
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male given name from the Germanic languages.
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 | Richard |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.əd/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #1,703 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Richard” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Richard is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.əd/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,703 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for Richard, with forms such as "irchard", "rcihard", and "ricahrd". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "richer", "Rickard", "Richards", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus and Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rīks (“king, ruler”) + *harduz (“hard, brave”). Cognate with Old High German Rī… The correct English form is Richard, spelled R-I-C-H-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1A male given name from the Germanic languages.
- 2A surname originating as a patronymic.
Etymology
From Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus and Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rīks (“king, ruler”) + *harduz (“hard, brave”). Cognate with Old High German Rīcohard (“Richard”). A hypothetical Old English equivalent *Rīċheard would also yield an identical "Richard" in Modern English, though it is unknown if the Old English equivalent existed.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: irchard,rcihard,ricahrd,ricchard,richadr,richardd,richarrd,richhard,richrad,rihcard,rrichard
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Richard - 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
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Using “Richard”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-I-C-H-A-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.əd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “richer” - see the side-by-side comparison. Richard vs richer
- 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.