The Most Common Letters (and Where They Sit) in Five-Letter Words
I love a good statistic, especially one that helps me pick a better guess. So instead of repeating the usual "ETAOIN" letter-frequency chart (which comes from English text in general, not five-letter puzzle answers), I counted the letters in an actual Wordle word list. Here's what I found and how you can use it.
Where the numbers come from
All the figures on this page come from the original Wordle answer list: the 2,315 five-letter words built into the game's source code when it launched, before The New York Times began editing the list. It's been widely shared; the copy I used is the one compiled publicly by GitHub user cfreshman (wordle-answers-alphabetical.txt).
Two honest caveats. First, today's answers are chosen by an editor, and some of them aren't on that original list, so treat these numbers as a very good guide rather than a law. Second, I counted each letter once per word. For Wordle, the useful question is "how many possible answers contain this letter?", not "how many times does it appear in total?"
Which letters show up in the most words
| Rank | Letter | Words containing it | Share of list |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E | 1,056 | 45.6% |
| 2 | A | 909 | 39.3% |
| 3 | R | 837 | 36.2% |
| 4 | O | 673 | 29.1% |
| 5 | T | 667 | 28.8% |
| 6 | L | 648 | 28.0% |
| 7 | I | 647 | 27.9% |
| 8 | S | 618 | 26.7% |
| 9 | N | 550 | 23.8% |
| 10 | U | 457 | 19.7% |
| 11 | C | 448 | 19.4% |
| 12 | Y | 417 | 18.0% |
| 13 | H | 379 | 16.4% |
| 14 | D | 370 | 16.0% |
| 15 | P | 346 | 14.9% |
| 16 | G | 300 | 13.0% |
| 17 | M | 298 | 12.9% |
| 18 | B | 267 | 11.5% |
| 19 | F | 207 | 8.9% |
| 20 | K | 202 | 8.7% |
| 21 | W | 194 | 8.4% |
| 22 | V | 149 | 6.4% |
| 23 | X | 37 | 1.6% |
| 24 | Z | 35 | 1.5% |
| 25 | Q | 29 | 1.3% |
| 26 | J | 27 | 1.2% |
Source: the original Wordle answer list as compiled by cfreshman (GitHub gist); counted by Word Junkie.
A few things jump out:
- E is the clear winner, appearing in 1,056 of the 2,315 words, nearly half.
- A and R come next, then a tight pack of O, T, L, I and S, each in roughly 27 to 29 percent of words.
- The rare four: J, Q, Z and X each appear in fewer than 40 words. Q appears in only 29, and in every one of them it's followed by U.
- Y is more useful than people think: it's in 417 words, more than H, D, P or G.
Which letters like which spots
Knowing a letter is in the word is half the battle. Knowing where it usually sits is the other half. Here are the five most common letters for each position.
| Position | Five most common letters (number of words) |
|---|---|
| 1st | S (366), C (198), B (173), T (149), P (142) |
| 2nd | A (304), O (279), R (267), E (242), I (202) |
| 3rd | A (307), I (266), O (244), E (177), U (165) |
| 4th | E (318), N (182), S (171), A (163), L (162) |
| 5th | E (424), Y (364), T (253), R (212), L (156) |
Source: the original Wordle answer list as compiled by cfreshman (GitHub gist); counted by Word Junkie.
What I take from this:
- First letter: S is a runaway leader, with 366 words starting with it, almost twice as many as C, the runner-up. After that come B, T, P and A.
- Second letter: vowels dominate (A, O, E, I), along with R and L, which so often follow a consonant in blends like BR-, CR-, PL- and FL-.
- Third letter: the vowel spot. A, I and O are the top three.
- Fourth letter: E leads, followed by N, S, A and L.
- Fifth letter: E (424 words) and Y (364 words) are the big two, then T and R. S is rare at the end. Only 36 words in the list end in S, because the list leaves out simple plurals like CATS or DOGS.
How to use these stats in a real game
Pick an opener with common letters in common spots
That's exactly why my opener, STAIR, works: S is the most common first letter, and A, I and R are among the most common letters overall. You can read the full story in Why I start with STAIR.
When you're stuck, try the "usual suspects"
If you've got a pattern like _ _ A _ E and no idea what goes in the gaps, run through the most common letters for each blank first. For the first slot, try S, C, B, T and P before reaching for the rare letters.
Don't assume the last letter is S
In everyday English, lots of five-letter words end in S because they're plurals. In this list, only 36 do. If you've been saving your last slot for an S, try E, Y, T, R or L instead.
Treat Y as a part-time vowel
Y showed up as the last letter in 364 words. It also stands in for a vowel in words with no A, E, I, O or U at all, like CRYPT, NYMPH and GLYPH. There are 13 of those in the list. My vowels vs. consonants guide digs into this.
Save rare letters for confirmation, not exploration
J, Q, X and Z are fun but rarely worth testing early. When one of them is in the word, you'll usually be able to guess it from the surrounding letters.
Common pairs and endings
A few letter combinations come up again and again in this list:
- Starting pairs: ST- (65 words), SH- (52), CR- and SP- (45 each), CH- (40) and GR- (38).
- Ending pairs: -ER is the giant here, ending 141 words. After it come -CH (58), -LY (56), -SE (52) and -AL (50).
- Three-letter endings: -ING (23 words), -LLY (22) and -TCH (18).
Those endings are also where the sneakiest word families live. If you've ever been stuck cycling through _ATCH words, my guide to tricky endings and word traps is for you.
The takeaway
Letter statistics won't solve the puzzle for you, but they'll make every guess a little smarter. Lead with E, A, R, O, T, L, I and S. Remember that S loves the front and E and Y love the back. Don't count on a plural, and save the rare letters for later. Small edges like these add up to a lot of green over time.