BenthamvsBinghamWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,052
“Bentham” frequency rank
#24,682
“Bingham” frequency rank
67734
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bentham Bingham
Definition An English habitational surname from Old English derived from any of several places. A town and civil parish in Rushcliffe district, Nottinghamshire, England (OS grid ref SK703343).

Letter map: Bentham vs Bingham

Shared letters muted; letters that set Bentham and Bingham apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

7 ch
Bentham
7 ch
Bingham

Pair insight - Bentham / Bingham

Bentham and Bingham 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bentham is recorded at frequency rank #43,052, classified as aname. Bingham is at rank #24,682, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈbɪŋəm/.

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 67734, this pair ranks #62,002 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Bentham vs Bingham

Shared letters: abhmn. Private to "Bentham": et. Private to "Bingham": gi.

"Bentham" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Bingham" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Benthambbentham · benhtam · benntham · bentahm · benthamm · benthham · benthma · benttham
  • Binghambbingham · bignham · bingahm · binggham · binghamm · binghham · binghma · binhgam

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Bentham" for "Bingham" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Bentham" vs "Bingham" - which ranks higher?
"Bingham" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,682 in our English list, against #43,052 for "Bentham". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Bentham" and "Bingham".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bentham" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bingham" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #62,002 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bentham" and "Bingham" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bentham vs benthic". 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 #62,002 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