Which to use
“Mayer” is a name and “mer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,563
- “Mayer” frequency rank
- #10,134
- “mer” frequency rank
- 16697
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mayer | mer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | deutschsprachiger Familienname, Nachname mit häufigem Vorkommen | das Meer, die See |
Where the eye mixes Mayer and mer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Mayer and mer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Mayer is [ˈmaɪ̯ɐ] while mer is [mεːʀ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 16697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mayer is recorded at frequency rank #6,563, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯ɐ]. mer is at rank #10,134, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mεːʀ].
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 16697, this pair ranks #1,933,720 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Mayer vs mer
Shared letters: emr. Private to "Mayer": ay. Private to "mer": -.
"Mayer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Mayer ← amyer · maeyr · mayerr · mayre · mayyer · mmayer · myaer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Mayer" for "mer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Mayer" or "mer"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Mayer" and "mer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mayer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,933,720 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mayer" and "mer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mer vs mora". 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 #1,933,720 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.