Spokane
/spoʊˈkæn/
"spokane" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Spokane” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,211 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #19,211
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A Native American Plateau tribe who inhabited the eastern portion of Washington state and parts of northern Idaho.
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 | Spokane |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /spoʊˈkæn/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #19,211 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Spokane” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Spokane is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /spoʊˈkæn/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,211 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A Native American Plateau tribe who inhabited the eastern portion of Washington state and parts of northern Idaho.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Spokane, with forms such as "psokane", "sopkane", and "spkoane". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "spoke", "spoken", "Sloane", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: A number of etymologies of the name have been proposed, most frequently Sun children, children of the Sun, or muddy people. According to Barry Pritzker (2011), these interpretations are most probably popular etymologies derived from an actual self-designati… The correct English form is Spokane, spelled S-P-O-K-A-N-E.
Definition
- 1A Native American Plateau tribe who inhabited the eastern portion of Washington state and parts of northern Idaho.
Etymology
A number of etymologies of the name have been proposed, most frequently Sun children, children of the Sun, or muddy people. According to Barry Pritzker (2011), these interpretations are most probably popular etymologies derived from an actual self-designation of Spoqe'ind, meaning round head.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: psokane,sopkane,spkoane,spoakne,spokaen,spokanne,spokkane,spoknae,sppokane,sspokane
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Spokane - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "Spokane"?
What does "Spokane" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Spokane"?
How do you pronounce "Spokane"?
What is the origin of the word "Spokane"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Spokane”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-O-K-A-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /spoʊˈkæn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “spoke” - see the side-by-side comparison. Spokane vs spoke
- 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.