Pierre

\pjɛʁ\

/\pjɛʁ\/ name

The verdict

“Pierre” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #427 in French word frequency and used as a proper noun.

#427
frequency rank, French
6
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nom de famille.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Pierre vs pire
50% similar
Pierre vs piété
17% similar
Pierre vs pitre
50% similar

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

Key facts for Pierre
PropertyValue
HeadwordPierre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechProper noun
IPA\pjɛʁ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#427
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Pierre” sits in French frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for Pierre is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pjɛʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #427 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Nom de famille.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for Pierre, with forms such as "iperre", "peirre", and "piere". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pire", "piété", "pitre", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is Pierre, spelled P-I-E-R-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nom de famille.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: iperre,peirre,piere,pierer,pirere,ppierre

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Pierre - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

iperre2peirre2piere1pierer2pirere2ppierre1
Edit distance from "Pierre"

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 "Pierre"?
"Pierre" is spelled P-I-E-R-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pjɛʁ\.
What does "Pierre" mean?
As a proper noun, "Pierre" means: Nom de famille.
What words are commonly confused with "Pierre"?
"Pierre" is commonly confused with "pire", "piété", "pitre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Pierre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Pierre" is \pjɛʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Pierre" come from?
"Pierre" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “Pierre”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is P-I-E-R-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pjɛʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “pire” - see the side-by-side comparison. Pierre vs pire
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list