niño
[ˈniɲo]
The verdict
“niño” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #690) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #690
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 7,828
- “N” headwords
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ser humano de corta edad, en especial el que no ha llegado a la pubertad
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 | niño |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈniɲo] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #690 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “niño” sits in Spanish frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for niño is neighbouring look-alikes ("no", "NN", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ˈniɲo]. Frequency #690 among 7,828 “N” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for niño, with forms such as "inño", "nioñ", and "nniño". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "no", "NN", "non", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Spanish form is niño, spelled N-I-Ñ-O.
Definition
- 1Ser humano de corta edad, en especial el que no ha llegado a la pubertad
- 2Adulto que, teniendo facultad de contraer matrimonio, no lo ha hecho
- 3Adulto de mentalidad pueril o inmadura.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- inño
- nioñ
- nniño
- nñio
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of niño - 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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “niño”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is N-I-Ñ-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈniɲo] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “no” - see the side-by-side comparison. niño vs no
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Words at a similar Spanish frequency
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.