Ortenau

[…]

/[…]/ name

The verdict

“Ortenau” is uncommon German (frequency #53,135 among 1,007 “O” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,135
frequency rank, German
1,007
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Landschaft am rechten Oberrhein in Baden-Württemberg zwischen Breisgau im Süden und Schwarzwald im Osten

Corpus desk

Index DE-ortenau · Ortenau · German

Ortenau · rank #53,135 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,135
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,007
  • PHOTO-FINISH orientalischer

Nearest frequency peer: orientalischer (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Ortenau“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Ortenau“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Ortenau
PropertyValue
HeadwordOrtenau
LanguageGerman
Part of speechProper noun
IPA[…]
Letters7
Frequency rank#53,135
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Ortenau“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Ortenaufällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „orientalischer“ (#53,134), „optimales“ (#53,133), „Ostindien“ (#53,137). Unter 1,007 „O“-Lemmata liegt „Ortenau“ bei #53,135. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Ortenau is uncommon German at frequency #53,135 among 1,007 “O” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed […]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Landschaft am rechten Oberrhein in Baden-Württemberg zwischen Breisgau im Süden und Schwarzwald im Osten".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Ortenau, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No documented word history exists for this headword, 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 Ortenau, spelled O-R-T-E-N-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Landschaft am rechten Oberrhein in Baden-Württemberg zwischen Breisgau im Süden und Schwarzwald im Osten

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Ortenau appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Mitmachen können alle Fotobegeisterten, egal ob Hobbyfotograf oder Profi, aus der Ortenau oder von auswärts.“
  2. „Die Ortenau ist nicht nur ein schöner Landstrich – sie lebt durch die Menschen, die hier verwurzelt sind.“

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 "Ortenau"?
"Ortenau" is spelled O-R-T-E-N-A-U. The IPA pronunciation is […].
What does "Ortenau" mean?
As a proper noun, "Ortenau" means: Landschaft am rechten Oberrhein in Baden-Württemberg zwischen Breisgau im Süden und Schwarzwald im Osten
How do you pronounce "Ortenau"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Ortenau" is […]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Ortenau" come from?
"Ortenau" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Ortenau", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list