HofervsHölzerWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#7,932
“Hofer” frequency rank
#32,095
“Hölzer” frequency rank
40027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Hofer Hölzer
Definition deutscher Nachname, Familienname Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Holz

Where the eye mixes Hofer and Hölzer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Hofer runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Hölzer's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Hofer
6 ch
Hölzer

Look-alike desk: Hofer vs Hölzer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Hofer is [ˈhoːfɐ] while Hölzer is [ˈhœlt͡sɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Hofer is recorded at frequency rank #7,932, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈhoːfɐ]. Hölzer is at rank #32,095, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈhœlt͡sɐ].

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 40027, this pair ranks #1,520,069 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Hofer vs Hölzer

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "Hofer": fo. Private to "Hölzer": lzö.

"Hofer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Hölzer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Hofer ← hfoer · hhofer · hoefr · hoferr · hoffer · hofre · ohfer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Hofer" and "Hölzer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Hofer" is a name and "Hölzer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Hofer" or "Hölzer"?
"Hofer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,932 in our German list, against #32,095 for "Hölzer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Hofer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Hölzer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,520,069 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Hofer" and "Hölzer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Halver vs Hölzer". 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 #1,520,069 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