NamevsNässeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#638
“Name” frequency rank
#25,692
“Nässe” frequency rank
26330
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Name Nässe
Definition eine eingliedrige oder mehrgliedrige, aus einem oder mehreren Worten bestehende Bezeichnung, eine zugeordnete Information, die der Identifizierung und Individualisierung dient, ein Eigenname für nasse Beschaffenheit (der Umgebung), starke Feuchtigkeit

Where the eye mixes Name and Nässe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Name
5 ch
Nässe

Visual trap between Name and Nässe

A purely visual mix-up. Name ([ˈnaːmə]) and Nässe ([ˈnɛsə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Name is recorded at frequency rank #638, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈnaːmə]. Nässe is at rank #25,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnɛsə].

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 26330, this pair ranks #1,819,764 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Name vs Nässe

Shared letters: en. Private to "Name": am. Private to "Nässe": .

"Name" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Nässe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Nameanme · naem · namme · nmae · nname

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Name" and "Nässe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnaːmə] versus [ˈnɛsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Name" or "Nässe" show up more?
"Name" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #638 in our German list, against #25,692 for "Nässe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Name" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Nässe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,819,764 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Name" and "Nässe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Nässe vs nasses". 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 #1,819,764 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