akevsAlexWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ake is a verb, Alex is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ake” is a verb and “Alex” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,292
“ake” frequency rank
#2,378
“Alex” frequency rank
48670
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ake Alex
Definition Obsolete spelling of ache. A unisex given name from Ancient Greek.

Where the eye mixes ake and Alex

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ake
4 ch
Alex

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ake is /eɪk/ while Alex is /ˈæ.lɪks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ake is recorded at frequency rank #46,292, classified as averb, pronounced /eɪk/. Alex is at rank #2,378, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈæ.lɪks/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 48670, this pair ranks #190,842 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ake vs Alex

Shared letters: ae. Private to "ake": k. Private to "Alex": lx.

"ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "Alex" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Alexaelx · alexx · allex · alxe · laex

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ake" and "Alex" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ake" is a verb and "Alex" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ake" or "Alex"?
"Alex" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,378 in our English list, against #46,292 for "ake". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list