ReadevsreeveWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#40,412
“Reade” frequency rank
#32,556
“reeve” frequency rank
72968
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Reade reeve
Definition A surname. Any of several local officials, with varying responsibilities.

Letter map: Reade vs reeve

Shared letters muted; letters that set Reade and reeve apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Reade and reeve follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Reade
5 ch
reeve

Grammar separator: Reade vs reeve

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Reade is aname and reeveanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Reade is recorded at frequency rank #40,412, classified as aname. reeve is at rank #32,556, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹiːv/.

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 72968, this pair ranks #41,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Reade vs reeve

Shared letters: er. Private to "Reade": ad. Private to "reeve": v.

"Reade" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "reeve" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Reade ← erade · raede · readde · reaed · redae · rreade
  • reeve ← ereve · reeev · reevve · reve · revee · rreeve

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Reade" for "reeve" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Reade" is a name and "reeve" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Reade" or "reeve"?
"reeve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,556 in our English list, against #40,412 for "Reade". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "Reade" and "reeve". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Reade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reeve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Reade" and "reeve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Reade vs reedy". 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 #41,225 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