TomkinsvsTompkinsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#48,532
“Tomkins” frequency rank
#34,321
“Tompkins” frequency rank
82853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tomkins Tompkins
Definition An English surname originating as a patronymic from the pet form of Thomas. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Letter map: Tomkins vs Tompkins

Shared letters muted; letters that set Tomkins and Tompkins apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. Tomkins runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against Tompkins's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Tomkins
8 ch
Tompkins

Corpus notes: Tomkins and Tompkins

Tomkins and Tompkins 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tomkins is recorded at frequency rank #48,532, classified as aname. Tompkins is at rank #34,321, 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 82853, this pair ranks #14,953 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Tomkins vs Tompkins

Shared letters: ikmnost. Private to "Tomkins": -. Private to "Tompkins": p.

"Tomkins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Tompkins" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tomkins ← otmkins · tmokins · tokmins · tomikns · tomkinns · tomkinss · tomkisn · tomkkins
  • Tompkins ← otmpkins · tmopkins · tomkpins · tommpkins · tompikns · tompkinns · tompkinss · tompkisn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Tomkins" and "Tompkins" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Tomkins" vs "Tompkins" - which ranks higher?
"Tompkins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,321 in our English list, against #48,532 for "Tomkins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "Tomkins" vs "Tompkins" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tomkins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tompkins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,953 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tomkins" and "Tompkins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tomkins vs Tonkin". 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 #14,953 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