KlausvsKrausWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,979
“Klaus” frequency rank
#38,933
“Kraus” frequency rank
53912
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Klaus Kraus
Definition A male given name from Ancient Greek, an alternative spelling of Claus. A surname

Letter map: Klaus vs Kraus

Shared letters muted; letters that set Klaus and Kraus apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. Klaus and Kraus follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Klaus
5 ch
Kraus

Corpus notes: Klaus and Kraus

Klaus and Kraus 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 differ by a single letter - l in “Klaus” becomes r in “Kraus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Klaus is recorded at frequency rank #14,979, classified as aname. Kraus is at rank #38,933, 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 53912, this pair ranks #145,166 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Klaus vs Kraus

Shared letters: aksu. Private to "Klaus": l. Private to "Kraus": r.

"Klaus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "Kraus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Klaus ← kalus · kklaus · klasu · klauss · kllaus · kluas · lkaus
  • Kraus ← karus · kkraus · krasu · krraus · kruas · rkaus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Klaus" for "Kraus" ever safe?
No. They differ by a single letter - l in “Klaus” becomes r in “Kraus”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "Klaus" or "Kraus" show up more?
"Klaus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,979 in our English list, against #38,933 for "Kraus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "Klaus" vs "Kraus" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Klaus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kraus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #145,166 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Klaus" and "Kraus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kraus vs Krug". 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 #145,166 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