devilvsDuvalConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,296
“devil” frequency rank
#26,769
“Duval” frequency rank
31065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature devil Duval
Definition The chief devil; Satan. A topographic surname from French of French origin, for someone who lived in a valley.

Letter map: devil vs Duval

Shared letters muted; letters that set devil and Duval apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
devil
5 ch
Duval

Corpus notes: devil and Duval

devil and Duval 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 31065, 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/. Duval is at rank #26,769, tagged as aname.

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 31065, this pair ranks #349,299 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of devil vs Duval

Shared letters: dlv. Private to "devil": ei. Private to "Duval": au.

"devil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Duval" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devilddevil · deivl · devill · devli · devvil · dveil · edvil
  • Duvaldduval · duavl · duvall · duvla · duvval · dvual · udval

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "devil" for "Duval" 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.
Which is more common, "devil" or "Duval"?
"devil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,296 in our English list, against #26,769 for "Duval". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "devil" and "Duval". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "devil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Duval" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #349,299 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "devil" and "Duval" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drupal vs Duval". 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 #349,299 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