All 26 letters, ranked
Which letter starts the most English words? We counted the starting letter of all 359,039 words in the WordFindLab dictionary. The winner is not even close:
| # | Letter | Words starting with it | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S | 37,558 | 10.5% | |
| 2 | P | 33,304 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | C | 31,257 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | A | 24,678 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | U | 21,665 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | M | 19,316 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | T | 18,384 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | D | 18,337 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | B | 18,220 | 5.1% | |
| 10 | R | 16,579 | 4.6% | |
| 11 | E | 13,787 | 3.8% | |
| 12 | H | 13,202 | 3.7% | |
| 13 | I | 12,548 | 3.5% | |
| 14 | N | 12,196 | 3.4% | |
| 15 | O | 12,100 | 3.4% | |
| 16 | F | 11,831 | 3.3% | |
| 17 | G | 10,846 | 3.0% | |
| 18 | L | 9,878 | 2.8% | |
| 19 | W | 6,546 | 1.8% | |
| 20 | V | 5,275 | 1.5% | |
| 21 | K | 3,937 | 1.1% | |
| 22 | J | 2,829 | 0.8% | |
| 23 | Q | 1,752 | 0.5% | |
| 24 | Z | 1,368 | 0.4% | |
| 25 | Y | 1,142 | 0.3% | |
| 26 | X | 504 | 0.1% |
S, P, and C own the dictionary
Words beginning with S (37,558), P (33,304), and C (31,257) account for 28% of all English words — more than one word in four starts with one of just these three letters.
S dominates partly because it forms so many clusters (st-, str-, sp-, sc-, sh-, sl-, sm-, sn-, sw-) and because un-prefixed words pick up an S in plural and verb forms that count as separate entries.
At the other end, X starts only 504 words — S starts about 75 times more. Y (1,142), Z (1,368), and Q (1,752) round out the rare club.
How to use this at the game table
- Scrabble: the S tile is precious because S-words and S-hooks are everywhere — the data shows why. Never burn an S for a cheap play.
- Wordle: S is the single most common starting letter of five-letter words too, which is why openers like STARE and SLATE test the most likely first position. See our best starting words analysis.
- Q without U: Q may start only 1,752 words, but the short ones win games — browse the full Q-without-U list.
Every letter links to its complete word list, so you can explore any starting letter from the hub page.
Explore any starting letter
Every letter links to its complete word list - or unscramble your own letters and let the engine do the counting.
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