namesvsnotesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,515
“names” frequency rank
#21,718
“notes” frequency rank
58233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature names notes
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs name 2. Person Singular Präsens Konjunktiv des Verbs notar

Where the eye mixes names and notes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
names
5 ch
notes

Visual trap between names and notes

A purely visual mix-up. names ([neɪmz]) and notes ([ˈnɔ.tɪs]) 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 58233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

names is recorded at frequency rank #36,515, classified as averb, pronounced [neɪmz]. notes is at rank #21,718, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnɔ.tɪs].

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 58233, this pair ranks #870,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of names vs notes

Shared letters: ens. Private to "names": am. Private to "notes": ot.

"names" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "notes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • namesanmes · naems · namess · nammes · namse · nmaes · nnames
  • notesnnotes · noets · notess · notse · nottes · ntoes · ontes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "names" and "notes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([neɪmz] versus [ˈnɔ.tɪs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "names" or "notes"?
"notes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,718 in our German list, against #36,515 for "names". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "names" and "notes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "names" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "notes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #870,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "names" and "notes" 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 #870,682 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