HolgervsholteTell them apart

Quick tell: Holger is a name, holte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Holger” is a name and “holte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,881
“Holger” frequency rank
#4,359
“holte” frequency rank
13240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Holger holte
Definition Holger ist die deutsche Form von Holmger. Es ist ein altnordischer Name und bedeutet: Der mit dem Speer, der treue Speerkämpfer, der Kämpfer von der Insel 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs holen

Where the eye mixes Holger and holte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Holger
5 ch
holte

Why the eye confuses Holger with holte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Holger is [ˈhɔlɡɐ] while holte is [ˈhoːltə]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Holger is recorded at frequency rank #8,881, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈhɔlɡɐ]. holte is at rank #4,359, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈhoːltə].

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 13240, this pair ranks #1,959,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Holger vs holte

Shared letters: ehlo. Private to "Holger": gr. Private to "holte": t.

"Holger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "holte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Holgerhholger · hloger · hogler · holegr · holgerr · holgger · holgre · hollger
  • holtehholte · hlote · holet · hollte · holtte · ohlte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Holger" and "holte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Holger" is a name and "holte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Holger" or "holte"?
"holte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,359 in our German list, against #8,881 for "Holger". 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 "Holger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "holte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Holger" and "holte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Heger vs Holger". 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 #1,959,211 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