Which Letter Starts the Most English Words? S, C and P, by a Mile
S starts more common English words than any other letter: 938 of the 8,366 common words in our list, or 11.2%. C is a close second with 897 (10.7%) and P third with 700 (8.4%). Those three letters start almost a third of all common words. At the other end, J, K, Q, Y, Z and X together start just 2.2%, and X starts none of them.
Key facts
- S: 938 common words (11.2%). C: 897 (10.7%). P: 700 (8.4%).
- S, C and P start 30.3% of common words.
- J, K, Q, Y, Z and X together start only 2.2%.
- E is the most used letter in English, but only the 10th most common first letter.
The full ranking
| Letter | Common words | All words |
|---|---|---|
| S | 938 | 2,089 |
| C | 897 | 1,869 |
| P | 700 | 1,503 |
| A | 575 | 1,256 |
| R | 504 | 1,051 |
| D | 503 | 1,128 |
| B | 448 | 996 |
| M | 431 | 1,024 |
| T | 426 | 919 |
| F | 379 | 809 |
| E | 373 | 821 |
| I | 359 | 874 |
| H | 277 | 674 |
| L | 268 | 596 |
| G | 243 | 588 |
| W | 193 | 459 |
| O | 190 | 452 |
| N | 169 | 350 |
| U | 159 | 545 |
| V | 154 | 309 |
| J | 60 | 147 |
| K | 50 | 116 |
| Q | 37 | 83 |
| Y | 24 | 51 |
| Z | 9 | 31 |
| X | 0 | 5 |
“All words” includes rarer words as well; we count each word once in its dictionary form, so plurals do not inflate S.
Why S, C and P?
Each one leads a big family of word beginnings. S starts clusters like st-, sp-, sc-, sh- and str- (stone, spark, scale, shadow, strong). C and P are boosted by Latin prefixes that English borrowed in huge numbers: con-, com-, pro-, pre- and per- (concert, combine, provide, prepare, perform).
Why E starts so few
E is the most common letter in English text, yet it is only tenth as a first letter. Most of its appearances are in the middle and at the end of words, as in the silent “e” of make and stone.
Use it in games
In category games where a random letter decides the round, S, C and P make easy rounds, and J, K, Q, Y and Z are tough. Try the random words by letter pages to see examples for each one.
Sources
- Our own count of 18,745 dictionary-form words, common words defined by wordfreq frequency.
