UCLA

/ˌju.si.ɛlˈeɪ/

//ˌju.si.ɛlˈeɪ// name

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

"ucla" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“UCLA” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,469. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,469
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Initialism of University of California, Los Angeles.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ucla · UCLA · English

UCLA · rank #10,469 · 5 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,469
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH UAE

Nearest frequency peer: UAE (-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 “UCLA”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “UCLA” 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).

UCLA vs USA
50% similar
UCLA vs URL
50% similar
UCLA vs Una
25% similar

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

Key facts for UCLA
PropertyValue
HeadwordUCLA
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˌju.si.ɛlˈeɪ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#10,469
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “UCLA”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).UCLAlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “UAE” (#10,468), “unreasonable” (#10,470), “tray” (#10,467). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “UCLA” is #10,469. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around UCLA (IPA /ˌju.si.ɛlˈeɪ/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #10,469 among 1,433 “U” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Initialism of University of California, Los Angeles.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for UCLA, with forms such as "cula", "ucal", and "uccla". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "USA", "URL", "Una", 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, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is UCLA, spelled U-C-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of University of California, Los Angeles.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how UCLA appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Representatives from UCLA are Sunny Merrill and Ken Gallagher who will appear tonight on Peter Potter’s “College Corner” program, which will poll the most popular record according to West Coast collegiennes on KHJ from 10:30 to 11.
  2. State begins fouling and UCLA misses a couple of front-end free throws on one-and-ones.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cula
  • ucal
  • uccla
  • uclla
  • ulca

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of UCLA - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

cula2ucal2uccla1uclla1ulca2
Edit distance from "UCLA"

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 "UCLA"?
"UCLA" is spelled U-C-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌju.si.ɛlˈeɪ/.
What does "UCLA" mean?
As a proper noun, "UCLA" means: Initialism of University of California, Los Angeles.
What words are commonly confused with "UCLA"?
"UCLA" is commonly confused with "USA", "URL", "Una". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "UCLA"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "UCLA" is /ˌju.si.ɛlˈeɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "UCLA" come from?
"UCLA" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "UCLA", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tray#10,467temp#10,459Rita#10,436cola#10,513

Similar misspelling depth

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

Bella5 variantsOmar5 variantscured5 variantsElliot5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list