Which to use
“Cain” is a name and “clan” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,099
- “Cain” frequency rank
- #7,967
- “clan” frequency rank
- 47066
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Cain | clan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Apellido. | Grupo de personas con un vínculo de sangre o parentesco, que establece derechos y obligaciones entre sí. |
Where the eye mixes Cain and clan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Cain (CVVC) and clan (CCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Cain and clan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Cain is [ˈkãjn] while clan is [ˈklãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Cain is recorded at frequency rank #39,099, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈkãjn]. clan is at rank #7,967, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklãn].
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 47066, this pair ranks #122,137 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Cain vs clan
Shared letters: acn. Private to "Cain": i. Private to "clan": l.
"Cain" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "clan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Cain" for "clan" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Cain" vs "clan" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Cain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #122,137 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Cain" and "clan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cain vs coin". 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 #122,137 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.