Which to use
“John” and “José” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,218
- “John” frequency rank
- #501
- “José” frequency rank
- 1719
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | John | José |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nombre de pila de varón, equivalente del español Juan. | Nombre de pila de varón. |
Where the eye mixes John and José
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses John with José
A purely visual mix-up. John (/d͡ʒɒn/) and José ([xoˈse]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
John is recorded at frequency rank #1,218, classified as aname, pronounced /d͡ʒɒn/. José is at rank #501, tagged as aname, pronounced [xoˈse].
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 1719, this pair ranks #321,562 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of John vs José
Shared letters: jo. Private to "John": hn. Private to "José": sé.
"John" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "José" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- John ← jhon · jjohn · johhn · johnn · jonh · ojhn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "John" for "José" ever safe?
Frequency check: "John" vs "José" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "John" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "José" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,562 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "John" and "José" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jodo vs John". 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 #321,562 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.