Spence

/ˈspɛns/

//ˈspɛns// name

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

"spence" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Spence” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,435. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,435
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Short form of the male given name Spencer.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spence · Spence · English

Spence · rank #18,435 · 10 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,435
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spills

Nearest frequency peer: spills (+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 “Spence”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Spence” 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).

Spence vs spent
50% similar
Spence vs spend
50% similar
Spence vs spice
50% similar

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

Key facts for Spence
PropertyValue
HeadwordSpence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈspɛns/
Letters6
Frequency rank#18,435
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Spence”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Spencelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “spills” (#18,436), “slay” (#18,433), “staffed” (#18,437). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “Spence” is #18,435. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around Spence (IPA /ˈspɛns/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #18,435 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Spence, with forms such as "psence", "sepnce", and "spance". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "spent", "spend", "spice", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is Spence, spelled S-P-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Short form of the male given name Spencer.
  2. 2
    A surname.
  3. 3
    A suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
  4. 4
    A locality in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia.
  5. 5
    A ghost town in Magnetawan township, Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psence
  • sepnce
  • spance
  • specne
  • spencce
  • spenec
  • spennce
  • spnece
  • sppence
  • sspence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

psence2sepnce2spance1specne2spencce1spenec2spennce1spnece2
Edit distance from "Spence"

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 "Spence"?
"Spence" is spelled S-P-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈspɛns/.
What does "Spence" mean?
As a proper noun, "Spence" means: Short form of the male given name Spencer.
What words are commonly confused with "Spence"?
"Spence" is commonly confused with "spent", "spend", "spice". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Spence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Spence" is /ˈspɛns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Spence" come from?
"Spence" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "Spence", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

spills#18,436saliva#18,424ridges#18,419revert#18,418

Similar misspelling depth

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

Sweeney10 variantsSabrina10 variantsRenault10 variantsRamirez10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list