LopevsLópezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Lope” and “López” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,192
“Lope” frequency rank
#1,321
“López” frequency rank
18513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lope López
Definition Nombre de pila de varón Apellido español, patronímico derivado del nombre propio de Lope.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Lope and López apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Lope
5 ch
López

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Lope ([ˈlope]) and López ([ˈlopes]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lope is recorded at frequency rank #17,192, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈlope]. López is at rank #1,321, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈlopes].

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 18513, this pair ranks #267,620 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lope vs López

Shared letters: elp. Private to "Lope": o. Private to "López": .

"Lope" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "López" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lopellope · loep · loppe · lpoe · olpe

Frequency comparison

Lope#17,192
López#1,321

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lope" and "López" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlope] versus [ˈlopes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lope" or "López"?
"López" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,321 in our Spanish list, against #17,192 for "Lope". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Lope vs López

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Lope” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list