SchmidtvsSchmidtsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,124
“Schmidt” frequency rank
#33,275
“Schmidts” frequency rank
35399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Schmidt Schmidts
Definition deutschsprachiger Nachname, Familienname deutschsprachiger Familienname, Nachname

Where the eye mixes Schmidt and Schmidts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Schmidt
8 ch
Schmidts

Why the eye confuses Schmidt with Schmidts

A purely visual mix-up. Schmidt ([ʃmɪt]) and Schmidts ([ʃmɪt͡s]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Schmidt” sits inside “Schmidts”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Schmidt is recorded at frequency rank #2,124, classified as aname, pronounced [ʃmɪt]. Schmidts is at rank #33,275, tagged as aname, pronounced [ʃmɪt͡s].

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 35399, this pair ranks #1,640,954 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Schmidt vs Schmidts

Shared letters: cdhimst. Private to "Schmidt": -. Private to "Schmidts": -.

"Schmidt" · 7 letters · shape CCCCVCC  ·  "Schmidts" · 8 letters · shape CCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Schmidtcshmidt · scchmidt · schhmidt · schimdt · schmdit · schmiddt · schmidtt · schmitd
  • Schmidtscshmidts · scchmidts · schhmidts · schimdts · schmdits · schmiddts · schmidst · schmidtss

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Schmidt" for "Schmidts" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ʃmɪt] versus [ʃmɪt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Schmidt" vs "Schmidts" - which ranks higher?
"Schmidt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,124 in our German list, against #33,275 for "Schmidts". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Schmidt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Schmidts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,640,954 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Schmidt" and "Schmidts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Schmidts vs Schmiss". 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 #1,640,954 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