LeibevsLemkeTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#22,812
“Leibe” frequency rank
#35,888
“Lemke” frequency rank
58700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leibe Lemke
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Leib deutschsprachiger Nachname, Familienname

Letter map: Leibe vs Lemke

Shared letters muted; letters that set Leibe and Lemke apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Leibe (CVVCV) and Lemke (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Leibe
5 ch
Lemke

Role in the sentence - Leibe and Lemke

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Leibe is anoun and Lemkeaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leibe is recorded at frequency rank #22,812, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯bə]. Lemke is at rank #35,888, tagged as aname, pronounced […].

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 58700, this pair ranks #852,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Leibe vs Lemke

Shared letters: el. Private to "Leibe": bi. Private to "Lemke": km.

"Leibe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Lemke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leibeelibe · lebie · leibbe · leieb · lleibe
  • Lemkeelmke · lekme · lemek · lemkke · lemmke · llemke · lmeke

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Leibe" and "Lemke" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Leibe" is a noun and "Lemke" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Leibe" vs "Lemke" - which ranks higher?
"Leibe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,812 in our German list, against #35,888 for "Lemke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "Leibe" and "Lemke". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Leibe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lemke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #852,611 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leibe" and "Lemke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lemke vs puzzles". 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 #852,611 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