AlgervsAlgiersWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Alger” and “Algiers” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,778
“Alger” frequency rank
#28,108
“Algiers” frequency rank
73886
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Alger Algiers
Definition A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Elgar. The capital and largest city of Algeria.

Letter map: Alger vs Algiers

Shared letters muted; letters that set Alger and Algiers apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

5 ch
Alger
7 ch
Algiers

Spelling & dictionary notes on Alger vs Algiers

Alger and Algiers are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Alger is recorded at frequency rank #45,778, classified as aname. Algiers is at rank #28,108, tagged as aname, pronounced /ælˈdʒɪə(ɹ)z/.

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 73886, this pair ranks #38,097 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Alger vs Algiers

Shared letters: aeglr. Private to "Alger": -. Private to "Algiers": is.

"Alger" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Algiers" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Algeragler · alegr · algerr · algger · algre · allger
  • Algiersagliers · algeirs · alggiers · algierrs · algierss · algiesr · algires · aligers

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Alger" and "Algiers" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "Alger" or "Algiers" show up more?
"Algiers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,108 in our English list, against #45,778 for "Alger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "Alger" and "Algiers". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Alger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Algiers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #38,097 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Alger" and "Algiers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Alger vs algo". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #38,097 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list