maresvsMayesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mares is a noun, Mayes is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mares” is a noun and “Mayes” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,365
“mares” frequency rank
#46,054
“Mayes” frequency rank
75419
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mares Mayes
Definition plural of mare A surname.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mares and Mayes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
mares
5 ch
Mayes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mares is anoun and Mayesaname. On the page they differ by a single letter - r in “mares” becomes y in “Mayes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mares is recorded at frequency rank #29,365, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɛɹz/. Mayes is at rank #46,054, 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 75419, this pair ranks #33,197 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mares vs Mayes

Shared letters: aems. Private to "mares": r. Private to "Mayes": y.

"mares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Mayes" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maresamres · maers · maress · marres · marse · mmares · mraes
  • Mayesamyes · maeys · mayess · mayse · mayyes · mmayes · myaes

Frequency comparison

mares#29,365
Mayes#46,054

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mares" and "Mayes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mares" is a noun and "Mayes" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mares" or "Mayes"?
"mares" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,365 in our English list, against #46,054 for "Mayes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mares vs Mayes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mares”; for a name, it's “Mayes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mares” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list