AdelevsAdolfConfusable pair

Which to use

“Adele” and “Adolf” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,148
“Adele” frequency rank
#4,484
“Adolf” frequency rank
22632
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adele Adolf
Definition weiblicher Vorname männlicher Vorname

Where the eye mixes Adele and Adolf

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Adele
5 ch
Adolf

Why the eye confuses Adele with Adolf

A purely visual mix-up. Adele ([aˈdeːlə]) and Adolf ([ˈaːdɔlf]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Adele is recorded at frequency rank #18,148, classified as aname, pronounced [aˈdeːlə]. Adolf is at rank #4,484, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈaːdɔlf].

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 22632, this pair ranks #1,871,754 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Adele vs Adolf

Shared letters: adl. Private to "Adele": e. Private to "Adolf": fo.

"Adele" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "Adolf" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Adeleaddele · adeel · adelle · adlee · aedle · daele
  • Adolfaddolf · adlof · adofl · adolff · adollf · aodlf · daolf

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Adele" and "Adolf" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈdeːlə] versus [ˈaːdɔlf]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Adele" or "Adolf" show up more?
"Adolf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,484 in our German list, against #18,148 for "Adele". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Adele" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Adolf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,871,754 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Adele" and "Adolf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Adele vs apel". 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 #1,871,754 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