AnnavsapaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,870
“Anna” frequency rank
#15,025
“apa” frequency rank
16895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Anna apa
Definition ehemalige Münze und deren Geldwert in Indien, Pakistan und Sri Lanka Säugetier aus der Unterordnung Anthropoidea in der Ordnung der Primaten; Affe

Where the eye mixes Anna and apa

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

4 ch
Anna
3 ch
apa

Visual trap between Anna and apa

A purely visual mix-up. Anna ([aˈnaː]) and apa ([ˈɑpɑ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Anna is recorded at frequency rank #1,870, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈnaː]. apa is at rank #15,025, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɑpɑ].

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 16895, this pair ranks #1,932,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Anna vs apa

Shared letters: a. Private to "Anna": n. Private to "apa": p.

"Anna" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "apa" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Anna" for "apa" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈnaː] versus [ˈɑpɑ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Anna" vs "apa" - which ranks higher?
"Anna" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,870 in our German list, against #15,025 for "apa". 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 "Anna" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,932,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Anna" and "apa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apa 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 #1,932,105 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