ÑamvsnuiWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#48,157
“Ñam” frequency rank
#48,561
“nui” frequency rank
96718
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ñam nui
Definition Apellido. Grande

Where the eye mixes Ñam and nui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. No shared run - shape, not overlap, is the trap. Ñam (CVC) and nui (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
Ñam
3 ch
nui

Look-alike desk: Ñam vs nui

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ñam is [ˈɲãm] while nui is [ˈnu.i]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 96718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ñam is recorded at frequency rank #48,157, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈɲãm]. nui is at rank #48,561, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnu.i].

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 96718, this pair ranks #293 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Ñam vs nui

Shared letters: none. Private to "Ñam": amñ. Private to "nui": inu.

"Ñam" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "nui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ñam" and "nui" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ñam" is a name and "nui" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ñam" or "nui"?
"Ñam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #48,157 in our Spanish list, against #48,561 for "nui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Ñam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ñam" and "nui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nox vs nui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #293 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