KellevsKellerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,441
“Kelle” frequency rank
#2,208
“Keller” frequency rank
38649
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kelle Keller
Definition ein Schöpflöffel unterirdischer Vorratsraum

Where the eye mixes Kelle and Keller

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Kelle
6 ch
Keller

Visual trap between Kelle and Keller

A purely visual mix-up. Kelle ([ˈkɛlə]) and Keller ([ˈkɛlɐ]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Kelle” sits inside “Keller”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kelle is recorded at frequency rank #36,441, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛlə]. Keller is at rank #2,208, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɛlɐ].

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 38649, this pair ranks #1,558,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kelle vs Keller

Shared letters: ekl. Private to "Kelle": -. Private to "Keller": r.

"Kelle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Keller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kelleeklle · kelel · kkelle · klele
  • Kellerekller · kelelr · keler · kellerr · kellre · kkeller · kleler

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kelle" and "Keller" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkɛlə] versus [ˈkɛlɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kelle" or "Keller"?
"Keller" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,208 in our German list, against #36,441 for "Kelle". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kelle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Keller" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,558,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kelle" and "Keller" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kelle vs Kölle". 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 #1,558,338 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