KrausvsKreuzWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#10,889
“Kraus” frequency rank
#2,603
“Kreuz” frequency rank
13492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kraus Kreuz
Definition deutscher Nachname, Familienname Symbol

Where the eye mixes Kraus and Kreuz

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

5 ch
Kraus
5 ch
Kreuz

Visual trap between Kraus and Kreuz

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Kraus is [kʁaʊ̯s] while Kreuz is [kʁɔɪ̯t͡s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kraus is recorded at frequency rank #10,889, classified as aname, pronounced [kʁaʊ̯s]. Kreuz is at rank #2,603, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁɔɪ̯t͡s].

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 13492, this pair ranks #1,957,638 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Kraus vs Kreuz

Shared letters: kru. Private to "Kraus": as. Private to "Kreuz": ez.

"Kraus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "Kreuz" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Krauskarus · kkraus · krasu · krraus · kruas · rkaus
  • Kreuzkeruz · kkreuz · kreuzz · krezu · krreuz · kruez · rkeuz

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Kraus" and "Kreuz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Kraus" is a name and "Kreuz" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Kraus" or "Kreuz"?
"Kreuz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,603 in our German list, against #10,889 for "Kraus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Kraus" and "Kreuz" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kraus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kreuz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,957,638 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kraus" and "Kreuz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kräht vs Kraus". 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 #1,957,638 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