Which to use
“Mähne” is a noun and “Maike” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,097
- “Mähne” frequency rank
- #35,311
- “Maike” frequency rank
- 72408
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mähne | Maike |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gesamtheit der langen Haare, die einigen Tieren, zum Beispiel Löwen oder Pferden, am Kopf wachsen | weiblicher Vorname |
Where the eye mixes Mähne and Maike
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Mähne (CVCCV) and Maike (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: Mähne vs Maike
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Mähne is [ˈmɛːnə] while Maike is [ˈmaɪ̯kə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72408, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mähne is recorded at frequency rank #37,097, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɛːnə]. Maike is at rank #35,311, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯kə].
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 72408, this pair ranks #389,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Mähne vs Maike
Shared letters: em. Private to "Mähne": hnä. Private to "Maike": aik.
"Mähne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Maike" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Maike ← amike · maiek · maikke · makie · miake · mmaike
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Mähne" for "Maike" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Mähne" vs "Maike" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mähne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Maike" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,186 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mähne" and "Maike" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mähne vs Möhre". 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 #389,186 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.