MeikevsMelleConfusable pair

Which to use

“Meike” and “Melle” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,282
“Meike” frequency rank
#37,077
“Melle” frequency rank
75359
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Meike Melle
Definition weiblicher Vorname eine Stadt in Niedersachsen, Deutschland

Where the eye mixes Meike and Melle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Meike (CVVCV) and Melle (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Meike
5 ch
Melle

Visual trap between Meike and Melle

A purely visual mix-up. Meike ([ˈmaɪ̯kə]) and Melle ([ˈmɛlə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Meike is recorded at frequency rank #38,282, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯kə]. Melle is at rank #37,077, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈmɛlə].

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 75359, this pair ranks #309,924 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Meike vs Melle

Shared letters: em. Private to "Meike": ik. Private to "Melle": l.

"Meike" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Melle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Meike ← emike · meiek · meikke · mekie · mieke · mmeike
  • Melle ← emlle · mele · melel · mlele · mmelle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Meike" for "Melle" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaɪ̯kə] versus [ˈmɛlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Meike" or "Melle"?
"Melle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,077 in our German list, against #38,282 for "Meike". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Meike" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Melle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #309,924 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Meike" and "Melle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meike vs Mette". 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 #309,924 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