Sam

[sɛm]

/[sɛm]/ name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Sam” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5,019) as a proper noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#5,019
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - männlicher Vorname

Corpus desk

Index DE-sam · Sam · German

Sam · rank #5,019 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,019
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH Rettung

Nearest frequency peer: Rettung (-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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „Sam“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „Sam“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Sam vs so
0% similar
Sam vs Sc
33% similar
Sam vs SV
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Sam
PropertyValue
HeadwordSam
LanguageGerman
Part of speechProper noun
IPA[sɛm]
Letters3
Frequency rank#5,019
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „Sam“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Samliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Rettung“ (#5,018), „Profis“ (#5,017), „Schlampe“ (#5,021). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Sam“ bei #5,019. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Sam is neighbouring look-alikes ("so", "Sc", …), not just typos; it is aproper noun pronounced [sɛm]. Frequency #5,019 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Gloss: "männlicher Vorname".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Sam, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "so", "Sc", "SV", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Sam, spelled S-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    männlicher Vorname

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Stine mag Sam überhaupt nicht.

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 "Sam"?
"Sam" is spelled S-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is [sɛm].
What does "Sam" mean?
As a proper noun, "Sam" means: männlicher Vorname
What words are commonly confused with "Sam"?
"Sam" is commonly confused with "so", "Sc", "SV". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Sam"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Sam" is [sɛm]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Sam" come from?
"Sam" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "Sam", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dom#4,972boy#4,966ber#4,962FPÖ#5,083

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list