AbbavsaldaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Abba is a name, alda is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Abba” is a name and “alda” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,399
“Abba” frequency rank
#41,005
“alda” frequency rank
64404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Abba alda
Definition Anrede für Gott im Gebet (große, hohe) Welle, Wellengang

Where the eye mixes Abba and alda

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Abba and alda follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
Abba
4 ch
alda

Look-alike desk: Abba vs alda

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Abba is [ˈaba] while alda is [ˈalda]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Abba is recorded at frequency rank #23,399, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈaba]. alda is at rank #41,005, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈalda].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 64404, this pair ranks #642,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Abba vs alda

Shared letters: a. Private to "Abba": b. Private to "alda": dl.

"Abba" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "alda" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Abba ← abab
  • alda ← adla · alad · aldda · allda

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Abba" for "alda" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Abba" is a name and "alda" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Abba" vs "alda" - which ranks higher?
"Abba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,399 in our German list, against #41,005 for "alda". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Abba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #642,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Abba" and "alda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alda vs AUD". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #642,791 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list