Which to use
“nähen” and “names” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,452
- “nähen” frequency rank
- #36,515
- “names” frequency rank
- 49967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nähen | names |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Textilteile mit einem Faden verbinden | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs name |
Where the eye mixes nähen and names
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. nähen and names follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between nähen and names
A purely visual mix-up. nähen ([ˈnɛːən]) and names ([neɪmz]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nähen is recorded at frequency rank #13,452, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnɛːən]. names is at rank #36,515, tagged as averb, pronounced [neɪmz].
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 49967, this pair ranks #1,191,643 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of nähen vs names
Shared letters: en. Private to "nähen": hä. Private to "names": ams.
"nähen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "names" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- names ← anmes · naems · namess · nammes · namse · nmaes · nnames
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "nähen" and "names" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "nähen" vs "names" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "nähen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "names" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,191,643 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nähen" and "names" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagen vs names". 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 #1,191,643 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.