Michael
[ˈmɪçaːʔeːl]
The verdict
“Michael” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #720 in German word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #720
- frequency rank, German
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - männlicher Vorname
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 | Michael |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | [ˈmɪçaːʔeːl] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #720 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Michael” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Michael is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈmɪçaːʔeːl]. Corpus data places it at rank #720 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "männlicher Vorname".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Michael, with forms such as "imchael", "mcihael", and "micahel". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Michel", "Michal", "Michels", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is Michael, spelled M-I-C-H-A-E-L.
Definition
- 1männlicher Vorname
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: imchael,mcihael,micahel,micchael,michaell,michale,micheal,michhael,mihcael,mmichael
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Michael - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “Michael”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is M-I-C-H-A-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈmɪçaːʔeːl] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Michel” - see the side-by-side comparison. Michael vs Michel
- 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.