devilvsDevlinConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,296
“devil” frequency rank
#27,121
“Devlin” frequency rank
31417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devil Devlin
Definition The chief devil; Satan. A surname from Irish.

Where the eye mixes devil and Devlin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
devil
6 ch
Devlin

Look-alike desk: devil vs Devlin

A purely visual mix-up. devil (/ˈdɛvəl/) and Devlin (/ˈdɛvlɪn/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

devil is recorded at frequency rank #4,296, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈdɛvəl/. Devlin is at rank #27,121, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈdɛvlɪn/.

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 31417, this pair ranks #346,332 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of devil vs Devlin

Shared letters: deilv. Private to "devil": -. Private to "Devlin": n.

"devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Devlin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devilddevil · deivl · devill · devli · devvil · dveil · edvil
  • Devlinddevlin · delvin · deviln · devlinn · devllin · devlni · devvlin · dvelin

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "devil" and "Devlin" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈdɛvəl/ versus /ˈdɛvlɪn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "devil" or "Devlin"?
"devil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,296 in our English list, against #27,121 for "Devlin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "devil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Devlin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #346,332 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "devil" and "Devlin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Deakin vs Devlin". 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 #346,332 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