gemavsGemmaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: gema is a noun, Gemma is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gema” is a noun and “Gemma” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,426
“gema” frequency rank
#26,459
“Gemma” frequency rank
49885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gema Gemma
Definition Cualquier piedra preciosa. Nombre de pila de mujer.

Same sound, different letters: gema vs Gemma

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. gema runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Gemma's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
gema
5 ch
Gemma

Same sound, different spelling - gema / Gemma

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: gema and Gemma carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ˈxema]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other aname, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gema is recorded at frequency rank #23,426, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈxema]. Gemma is at rank #26,459, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈxema].

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 49885, this pair ranks #106,298 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gema vs Gemma

Shared letters: aegm. Private to "gema": -. Private to "Gemma": -.

"gema" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Gemma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gema ← egma · geam · ggema · gmea
  • Gemma ← egmma · gemam · ggemma · gmema

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gema" and "Gemma" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gema" is a noun and "Gemma" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "gema" or "Gemma" show up more?
"gema" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,426 in our Spanish list, against #26,459 for "Gemma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gema" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gemma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #106,298 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gema" and "Gemma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gara vs gema". 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 #106,298 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list