DavisvsDorisConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,052
“Davis” frequency rank
#13,326
“Doris” frequency rank
16378
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Davis Doris
Definition A surname The daughter of Oceanus, who married Nereus and bore fifty sea-nymphs or nereids.

Where the eye mixes Davis and Doris

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Davis
5 ch
Doris

Look-alike desk: Davis vs Doris

A purely visual mix-up. Davis (/ˈdeɪ.vɪs/) and Doris (/ˈdɒɹɪs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16378, 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/. Doris is at rank #13,326, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈdɒɹɪs/.

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 16378, this pair ranks #458,117 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Davis vs Doris

Shared letters: dis. Private to "Davis": av. Private to "Doris": or.

"Davis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Doris" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Davisadvis · daivs · daviss · davsi · davvis · ddavis · dvais
  • Dorisddoris · doirs · doriss · dorris · dorsi · drois · odris

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Davis" for "Doris" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈdeɪ.vɪs/ versus /ˈdɒɹɪs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Davis" or "Doris"?
"Davis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,052 in our English list, against #13,326 for "Doris". 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 "Doris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #458,117 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Davis" and "Doris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dore vs Doris". 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 #458,117 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