Schafer

name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"schafer" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Schafer” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #48,471. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#48,471
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation], equivalent to English Shepherd.

Corpus desk

Index EN-schafer · Schafer · English

Schafer · rank #48,471 · 11 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #48,471
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Scunthorpe

Nearest frequency peer: Scunthorpe (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Schafer”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “Schafer” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Schafer vs shaker
57% similar
Schafer vs shaver
57% similar
Schafer vs Scheer
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Schafer
PropertyValue
HeadwordSchafer
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters7
Frequency rank#48,471
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Schafer”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Schaferlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Scunthorpe” (#48,472), “sate” (#48,469), “sardonic” (#48,468). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “Schafer” is #48,471. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around Schafer, aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #48,471 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation], equivalent to English Shepherd.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for Schafer, with forms such as "cshafer", "scahfer", and "scchafer". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "shaker", "shaver", "Scheer", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From German Schäfer. The correct English form is Schafer, spelled S-C-H-A-F-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation], equivalent to English Shepherd.

Etymology

From German Schäfer.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cshafer
  • scahfer
  • scchafer
  • schaefr
  • schaferr
  • schaffer
  • schafre
  • schfaer
  • schhafer
  • shcafer
  • sschafer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Schafer - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cshafer2scahfer2scchafer1schaefr2schaferr1schaffer1schafre2schfaer2
Edit distance from "Schafer"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Schafer"?
"Schafer" is spelled S-C-H-A-F-E-R.
What does "Schafer" mean?
As a proper noun, "Schafer" means: A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation], equivalent to English Shepherd.
What words are commonly confused with "Schafer"?
"Schafer" is commonly confused with "shaker", "shaver", "Scheer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "Schafer"?
From German Schäfer. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Schafer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

roundly#48,461rifling#48,455Snowdon#48,489Reese's#48,449

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Seabrook11 variantssledding11 variantsSpenser11 variantspurifier11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list