WilkesvsWilmerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,544
“Wilkes” frequency rank
#45,750
“Wilmer” frequency rank
66294
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wilkes Wilmer
Definition A surname originating as a patronymic. A male given name.

Letter map: Wilkes vs Wilmer

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

6 ch
Wilkes
6 ch
Wilmer

Pair insight - Wilkes / Wilmer

Wilkes and Wilmer 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wilkes is recorded at frequency rank #20,544, classified as aname, pronounced /wɪlkiːs/. Wilmer is at rank #45,750, 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 66294, this pair ranks #68,681 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Wilkes vs Wilmer

Shared letters: eilw. Private to "Wilkes": ks. Private to "Wilmer": mr.

"Wilkes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Wilmer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wilkes ← iwlkes · wikles · wileks · wilkess · wilkkes · wilkse · willkes · wlikes
  • Wilmer ← iwlmer · wilemr · willmer · wilmerr · wilmmer · wilmre · wimler · wlimer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wilkes" and "Wilmer" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Wilkes" vs "Wilmer" - which ranks higher?
"Wilkes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,544 in our English list, against #45,750 for "Wilmer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "Wilkes" vs "Wilmer" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Wilkes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wilmer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,681 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wilkes" and "Wilmer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Willey vs Wilmer". 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 #68,681 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