Durham
\ˈdʌ.ɹəm\
The verdict
“Durham” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #31,933 in French word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #31,933
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Comté et autorité unitaire d’Angleterre situé dans la région d’Angleterre du Nord-Est.
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 | Durham |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | \ˈdʌ.ɹəm\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #31,933 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Durham” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for Durham is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ˈdʌ.ɹəm\. Corpus data places it at rank #31,933 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Durham, with forms such as "ddurham", "druham", and "duhram". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "dream", "duras", "Duran", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is Durham, spelled D-U-R-H-A-M.
Definition
- 1Comté et autorité unitaire d’Angleterre situé dans la région d’Angleterre du Nord-Est.
- 2Capitale et ville principale de ce comté.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddurham,druham,duhram,durahm,durhamm,durhham,durhma,durrham,udrham
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Durham - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Durham"?
What does "Durham" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Durham"?
How do you pronounce "Durham"?
What language does "Durham" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Durham”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-U-R-H-A-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ˈdʌ.ɹəm\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “dream” - see the side-by-side comparison. Durham vs dream
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French 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.