Which to use
“Caleb” is a name and “cates” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,487
- “Caleb” frequency rank
- #48,123
- “cates” frequency rank
- 62610
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Caleb | cates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Caleb the son of Jephunneh, an Israelite who entered Canaan with Joshua. | Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. |
Letter map: Caleb vs cates
Shared letters muted; letters that set Caleb and cates apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Grammar separator: Caleb vs cates
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Caleb is aname and catesanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Caleb is recorded at frequency rank #14,487, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈkeɪ.ləb/. cates is at rank #48,123, tagged as anoun.
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 62610, this pair ranks #87,527 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Caleb vs cates
Shared letters: ace. Private to "Caleb": bl. Private to "cates": st.
"Caleb" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "cates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Caleb" for "cates" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Caleb" or "cates"?
After this comparison
Pair "Caleb" vs "cates" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "Caleb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,527 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Caleb" and "cates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs catty". 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 #87,527 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.