MansillavsMarsellaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,666
“Mansilla” frequency rank
#18,017
“Marsella” frequency rank
52683
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mansilla Marsella
Definition Apellido. Segunda ciudad de Francia. Situada en la costa sur del país, es un importante centro comercial e industrial y uno de los más transitados puertos del Mediterráneo.

Where the eye mixes Mansilla and Marsella

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Mansilla and Marsella follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
Mansilla
8 ch
Marsella

Why the eye confuses Mansilla with Marsella

A purely visual mix-up. Mansilla ([mãnˈsiʝa]) and Marsella ([maɾˈseʝa]) 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 52683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mansilla is recorded at frequency rank #34,666, classified as aname, pronounced [mãnˈsiʝa]. Marsella is at rank #18,017, tagged as aname, pronounced [maɾˈseʝa].

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 52683, this pair ranks #91,544 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mansilla vs Marsella

Shared letters: alms. Private to "Mansilla": in. Private to "Marsella": er.

"Mansilla" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "Marsella" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mansillaamnsilla · mancilla · manislla · mannsilla · mansila · mansilal · manslila · manssilla
  • Marsellaamrsella · mareslla · marrsella · marselal · marslela · marssella · masrella · mmarsella

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Mansilla" for "Marsella" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([mãnˈsiʝa] versus [maɾˈseʝa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "Mansilla" or "Marsella" show up more?
"Marsella" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,017 in our Spanish list, against #34,666 for "Mansilla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mansilla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Marsella" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #91,544 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mansilla" and "Marsella" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mansilla vs mantilla". 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 #91,544 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