LübkevsLückeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#46,823
“Lübke” frequency rank
#6,083
“Lücke” frequency rank
52906
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lübke Lücke
Definition deutscher Nachname, Familienname Stelle, an der etwas fehlt, das dort sein sollte oder dort hin kann

Where the eye mixes Lübke and Lücke

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

5 ch
Lübke
5 ch
Lücke

Why the eye confuses Lübke with Lücke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lübke is [ˈlʏpkə] while Lücke is [ˈlʏkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “Lübke” becomes c in “Lücke”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52906, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lübke is recorded at frequency rank #46,823, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈlʏpkə]. Lücke is at rank #6,083, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlʏkə].

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 52906, this pair ranks #1,078,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lübke vs Lücke

Shared letters: eklü. Private to "Lübke": b. Private to "Lücke": c.

"Lübke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Lücke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Lübke" for "Lücke" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lübke" is a name and "Lücke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Lübke" vs "Lücke" - which ranks higher?
"Lücke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,083 in our German list, against #46,823 for "Lübke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lübke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lücke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,078,681 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lübke" and "Lücke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lacke vs Lübke". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,078,681 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