Nachname
[ˈnaːxˌnaːmə]
The verdict
“Nachname” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #15,703 in German word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,703
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - im Unterschied zum Vornamen, der nachgestellte Name, der Familienname, der im Deutschen normalerweise geschlechtlich nicht unterschieden wird
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 | Nachname |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈnaːxˌnaːmə] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #15,703 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Nachname” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Nachname is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈnaːxˌnaːmə]. Corpus data places it at rank #15,703 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "im Unterschied zum Vornamen, der nachgestellte Name, der Familienname, der im Deutschen normalerweise geschlechtlich nicht unterschieden wird".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for Nachname, with forms such as "anchname", "nacchname", and "nachanme". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Nachnamen", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Nachname, spelled N-A-C-H-N-A-M-E.
Definition
- 1im Unterschied zum Vornamen, der nachgestellte Name, der Familienname, der im Deutschen normalerweise geschlechtlich nicht unterschieden wird
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: anchname,nacchname,nachanme,nachhname,nachnaem,nachnamme,nachnmae,nachnname,nacnhame,nahcname,ncahname,nnachname
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Nachname - 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
How do you spell "Nachname"?
What does "Nachname" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Nachname"?
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Using “Nachname”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is N-A-C-H-N-A-M-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈnaːxˌnaːmə] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Nachnamen” - see the side-by-side comparison. Nachname vs Nachnamen
- 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.