KäthevsKathiWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,211
“Käthe” frequency rank
#36,439
“Kathi” frequency rank
61650
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Käthe Kathi
Definition weiblicher Vorname weiblicher Vorname

Where the eye mixes Käthe and Kathi

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

5 ch
Käthe
5 ch
Kathi

Why the eye confuses Käthe with Kathi

A purely visual mix-up. Käthe ([ˈkɛːtə]) and Kathi ([ˈkaːti]) 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 61650, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Käthe is recorded at frequency rank #25,211, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈkɛːtə]. Kathi is at rank #36,439, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈkaːti].

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 61650, this pair ranks #741,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Käthe vs Kathi

Shared letters: hkt. Private to "Käthe": . Private to "Kathi": ai.

"Käthe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Kathi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kathiakthi · kahti · kathhi · katih · katthi · kkathi · ktahi

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Käthe" for "Kathi" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛːtə] versus [ˈkaːti]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Käthe" or "Kathi" show up more?
"Käthe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,211 in our German list, against #36,439 for "Kathi". 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 "Käthe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kathi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #741,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Käthe" and "Kathi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kartei vs Kathi". 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 #741,777 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