SteelevsSterneWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Steele is a name, Sterne is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Steele” is a name and “Sterne” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,801
“Steele” frequency rank
#2,992
“Sterne” frequency rank
32793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Steele Sterne
Definition deutschsprachiger Nachname, Familienname Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Stern

Letter map: Steele vs Sterne

Shared letters muted; letters that set Steele and Sterne apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
Steele
6 ch
Sterne

Role in the sentence - Steele and Sterne

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Steele is aname and Sterneanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Steele is recorded at frequency rank #29,801, classified as aname, pronounced […]. Sterne is at rank #2,992, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtɛʁnə].

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 32793, this pair ranks #1,699,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Steele vs Sterne

Shared letters: est. Private to "Steele": l. Private to "Sterne": nr.

"Steele" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "Sterne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Steelesetele · ssteele · steeel · steelle · stelee · stteele · tseele
  • Sternesetrne · ssterne · stenre · steren · sternne · sterrne · strene · stterne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Steele" for "Sterne" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Steele" is a name and "Sterne" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Steele" or "Sterne"?
"Sterne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,992 in our German list, against #29,801 for "Steele". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Steele" and "Sterne". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Steele" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sterne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,699,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Steele" and "Sterne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs Steele". 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 #1,699,896 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