Merkel
[ˈmɛʁkl̩]
The verdict
“Merkel” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #1,330 in German word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #1,330
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - deutscher Familienname
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Merkel |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | [ˈmɛʁkl̩] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,330 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Merkel” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Merkel is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈmɛʁkl̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #1,330 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "deutscher Familienname".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Merkel, with forms such as "emrkel", "mekrel", and "merekl". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "merkt", "merle", "merken", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Merkel, spelled M-E-R-K-E-L.
Definition
- 1deutscher Familienname
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emrkel,mekrel,merekl,merkell,merkkel,merkle,merrkel,mmerkel,mrekel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Merkel - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Merkel"?
What does "Merkel" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Merkel"?
How do you pronounce "Merkel"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Merkel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is M-E-R-K-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈmɛʁkl̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “merkt” - see the side-by-side comparison. Merkel vs merkt
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.