AnkevsAtzeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#16,626
“Anke” frequency rank
#49,484
“Atze” frequency rank
66110
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Anke Atze
Definition weiblicher Vorname männliches Geschwisterteil

Where the eye mixes Anke and Atze

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Anke
4 ch
Atze

Why the eye confuses Anke with Atze

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Anke is [ˈaŋkə] while Atze is [ˈat͡sə]. 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 66110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Anke is recorded at frequency rank #16,626, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈaŋkə]. Atze is at rank #49,484, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈat͡sə].

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 66110, this pair ranks #584,293 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Anke vs Atze

Shared letters: ae. Private to "Anke": kn. Private to "Atze": tz.

"Anke" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Atze" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ankeanek · ankke · annke · nake
  • Atzeatez · attze · atzze · azte · taze

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Anke" for "Atze" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Anke" is a name and "Atze" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Anke" or "Atze"?
"Anke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,626 in our German list, against #49,484 for "Atze". 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 "Anke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Atze" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #584,293 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Anke" and "Atze" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Aare vs Atze". 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 #584,293 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