TeheránvsTeránWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Teherán” and “Terán” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,510
“Teherán” frequency rank
#33,873
“Terán” frequency rank
55383
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Teherán Terán
Definition Ciudad capital de Irán. Apellido.

Where the eye mixes Teherán and Terán

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Teherán runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against Terán's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Teherán
5 ch
Terán

Why the eye confuses Teherán with Terán

A purely visual mix-up. Teherán ([t̪eeˈɾãn]) and Terán ([t̪eˈɾãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55383, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Teherán is recorded at frequency rank #21,510, classified as aname, pronounced [t̪eeˈɾãn]. Terán is at rank #33,873, tagged as aname, pronounced [t̪eˈɾãn].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 55383, this pair ranks #79,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Teherán vs Terán

Shared letters: enrtá. Private to "Teherán": h. Private to "Terán": -.

"Teherán" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "Terán" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Teherán" and "Terán" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t̪eeˈɾãn] versus [t̪eˈɾãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "Teherán" or "Terán" show up more?
"Teherán" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,510 in our Spanish list, against #33,873 for "Terán". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Teherán" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Terán" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #79,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Teherán" and "Terán" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Terán vs Tirana". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #79,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list