LübkevsLückenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#46,823
“Lübke” frequency rank
#8,908
“Lücken” frequency rank
55731
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lübke Lücken
Definition deutscher Nachname, Familienname Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Lücke

Where the eye mixes Lübke and Lücken

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

5 ch
Lübke
6 ch
Lücken

Visual trap between Lübke and Lücken

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Lübke is [ˈlʏpkə] while Lücken is [ˈlʏkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55731, 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]. Lücken is at rank #8,908, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlʏkn̩].

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 55731, this pair ranks #967,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lübke vs Lücken

Shared letters: eklü. Private to "Lübke": b. Private to "Lücken": cn.

"Lübke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Lücken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lübke" and "Lücken" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Lübke" is a name and "Lücken" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Lübke" or "Lücken" show up more?
"Lücken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,908 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.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lübke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lücken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #967,986 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lübke" and "Lücken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lacke vs Lübke". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #967,986 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