# Essen

> English word · Proper noun · frequency rank #38,392

## Definitions
1. A major industrial city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany.
2. A surname from German.

## Etymology
From the German city and surname, often confused with essen (“eating”), but this is not related. The city's oldest name, Astnide, could be related to Old High German asc (“ash tree”). The surname is from the city.

## Easily confused with
- **even** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/essen-vs-even)
- **Essex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/essen-vs-essex)
- **ester** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/essen-vs-ester)
- **Estes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/essen-vs-estes)
- **essence** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/essen-vs-essence)
- **een** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/een-vs-essen)
- **ese** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ese-vs-essen)
- **else** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/else-vs-essen)
- **ease** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ease-vs-essen)
- **ESPN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/espn-vs-essen)
- **Eden** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eden-vs-essen)
- **Eben** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eben-vs-essen)
- **esse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/esse-vs-essen)
- **Esme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/esme-vs-essen)
- **essay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/essay-vs-essen)
- **eaten** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eaten-vs-essen)
- **ellen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ellen-vs-essen)
- **eased** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eased-vs-essen)
- **eases** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eases-vs-essen)
- **easel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/easel-vs-essen)

## Common misspellings (4)
`esesn`, `essenn`, `essne`, `sesen`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/essen