margevsMarkeyWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#26,155
“marge” frequency rank
#47,180
“Markey” frequency rank
73335
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marge Markey
Definition Margin; edge; brink or verge. A surname from Irish.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
marge
6 ch
Markey

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marge is /mɑɹd͡ʒ/ while Markey is /ˈmɑː(ɹ)ki/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marge is recorded at frequency rank #26,155, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɑɹd͡ʒ/. Markey is at rank #47,180, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈmɑː(ɹ)ki/.

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 73335, this pair ranks #39,998 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of marge vs Markey

Shared letters: aemr. Private to "marge": g. Private to "Markey": ky.

"marge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Markey" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • margeamrge · magre · mareg · margge · marrge · mmarge · mrage
  • Markeyamrkey · makrey · mareky · markeyy · markkey · markye · marrkey · mmarkey

Frequency comparison

marge#26,155
Markey#47,180

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marge" and "Markey" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "marge" is a noun and "Markey" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "marge" or "Markey"?
"marge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,155 in our English list, against #47,180 for "Markey". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering marge vs Markey

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “marge”; for a name, it's “Markey”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “marge” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list