---
id: metaphone
version: "0.6"
license: BSD
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# Metaphone — A Python implementation of the metaphone and double metaphone algorithms.

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 272.7K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Metaphone is a Python implementation of two phonetic encoding algorithms: the original Metaphone and Double Metaphone. Both produce approximate phonetic codes for English words and names to handle pronunciation variation and misspellings. Double Metaphone can return both primary and secondary codes to account for ambiguous cases and surname variants. For example, "Smith" encodes to SM0 and XMT while "Schmidt" encodes to XMT and SMT, sharing a common code.

The package has no runtime dependencies and is straightforward to use—import the algorithm function and pass a string to get back encoded phonetic codes. It's designed for applications like name matching in databases, full-text search, and handling user input with spelling variations. The implementation accounts for irregularities in English of Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and other origins.

Use it for:

- Match user-entered names against a database by comparing their phonetic codes instead of exact strings
- Improve search results by finding words that sound similar despite different spellings
- Deduplicate records in a dataset where names may be misspelled or spelled phonetically
- Build a full-text search system that tolerates pronunciation-based variations in queries
- Handle names from multiple language origins with a single encoding approach

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Implements the Metaphone and Double Metaphone phonetic encoding algorithms to generate approximate phonetic codes for words and names, useful for fuzzy matching and handling misspellings.

Yes, if you need phonetic matching and can accept a dormant package. The algorithm is stable and well-tested, with no known vulnerabilities and permissive licensing. However, verify compatibility with your Python version first—requires_python is unspecified, and the last release was 2016-08-24. The high install friction and lack of recent maintenance are minor concerns for a mature, single-purpose library.

## Install

pip install metaphone
uv add metaphone
poetry add metaphone

## Installing Metaphone

Before you install: High install friction due to source-only distribution. Package is dormant—last release was 2016-08-24, with no commits since 2024-02-28. No runtime dependencies, but the age and inactivity suggest limited ongoing maintenance.

License in practice: BSD license is permissive, allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions. No licensing barrier to adoption.

Quickstart:

from metaphone import doublemetaphone
result = doublemetaphone("architect")
print(result)  # (u"ARKTKT", u"")

requires_python is unspecified; verify compatibility with your Python version before installing

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works correctly on modern Python versions (requires_python is unspecified)
- Whether the source distribution builds without issues on current systems
- Performance characteristics and scalability for large datasets

## Package facts

- License: BSD (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: high
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 272.7K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

phonetic encoding, fuzzy name matching, double metaphone algorithm, misspelling tolerance, phonetic similarity, name matching, phonetic code generation, phonetic-encoding, name-matching, fuzzy-search

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