Spillane
"spillane" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Spillane” is uncommon English (frequency #93,176 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #93,176
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname from Irish.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Spillane |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #93,176 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Spillane” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Spillane is uncommon English at frequency #93,176 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A surname from Irish.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Spillane, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Spealáin (“descendant of Spealán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive of speal (“scythe”). The correct English form is Spillane, spelled S-P-I-L-L-A-N-E.
Definition
- 1A surname from Irish.
Etymology
Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Spealáin (“descendant of Spealán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive of speal (“scythe”).
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 “Spillane”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-I-L-L-A-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.