What is the least common letter in English?
Q, Z, J and X are the least common letters in English. Q or Z is usually ranked last, each making up only about 0.1 percent of letters in typical text.
Rankings vary a little depending on the text studied, but the rarest letters are always the same small group. Q is rare partly because it is almost always followed by U in English words, as in queen and quick. Z appears in words like zoo, zero and lazy, but not often. J and X are also used relatively rarely.
Because they are rare, these letters are worth the most points in the board game Scrabble. Q and Z are each worth 10 points, while J and X are worth 8. Players treasure words that use Q without U, such as qi and qat, which are allowed in official word lists.
Spelling differences
Z is more common in American English than in British English, because Americans use spellings like organize and realize, while British English often uses organise and realise. Americans also call the letter zee, while most other English speakers call it zed.
Did You Know?
The letter Z was once dropped from the Latin alphabet and later reintroduced, which is one reason it ended up at the end.