Which to use
“Kaye” and “Keyes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,136
- “Kaye” frequency rank
- #30,113
- “Keyes” frequency rank
- 56249
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kaye | Keyes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A surname from Middle English, spelling variant of Kay. | A surname. |
Where the eye mixes Kaye and Keyes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Kaye vs Keyes
A purely visual mix-up. Kaye (/ˈkeɪ/) and Keyes (/kiːz/) 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 56249, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kaye is recorded at frequency rank #26,136, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈkeɪ/. Keyes is at rank #30,113, tagged as aname, pronounced /kiːz/.
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 56249, this pair ranks #127,637 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Kaye vs Keyes
Shared letters: eky. Private to "Kaye": a. Private to "Keyes": s.
"Kaye" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "Keyes" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Kaye" and "Keyes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Kaye" vs "Keyes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Kaye" and "Keyes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kaye" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Keyes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,637 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kaye" and "Keyes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kaye vs Kaylee". 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 #127,637 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.