DavisvsDavisonWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,052
“Davis” frequency rank
#26,391
“Davison” frequency rank
29443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Davis Davison
Definition A surname A surname originating as a patronymic.

Where the eye mixes Davis and Davison

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Davis
7 ch
Davison

Visual trap between Davis and Davison

A purely visual mix-up. Davis (/ˈdeɪ.vɪs/) and Davison (/ˈdeɪvɪsən/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Davis” sits inside “Davison”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Davis is recorded at frequency rank #3,052, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈdeɪ.vɪs/. Davison is at rank #26,391, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈdeɪvɪsən/.

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 29443, this pair ranks #362,962 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Davis vs Davison

Shared letters: adisv. Private to "Davis": -. Private to "Davison": no.

"Davis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Davison" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Davisadvis · daivs · daviss · davsi · davvis · ddavis · dvais
  • Davisonadvison · daivson · daviosn · davisno · davisonn · davisson · davsion · davvison

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Davis" and "Davison" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈdeɪ.vɪs/ versus /ˈdeɪvɪsən/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Davis" or "Davison"?
"Davis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,052 in our English list, against #26,391 for "Davison". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Davis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Davison" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #362,962 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Davis" and "Davison" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Davison vs Denison". 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 #362,962 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