Which to use
“Jacob” and “Jacobs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,669
- “Jacob” frequency rank
- #20,768
- “Jacobs” frequency rank
- 26437
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Jacob | Jacobs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom de famille, connu entre autres par Max Jacob, poète français. | Nom de famille allemand, anglais ou néerlandais. |
Where the eye mixes Jacob and Jacobs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Jacob and Jacobs
A purely visual mix-up. Jacob (\ʒa.kɔb\) and Jacobs (\ʒa.kɔbs\) 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 extra letter(s) - “Jacob” sits inside “Jacobs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26437, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Jacob is recorded at frequency rank #5,669, classified as aname, pronounced \ʒa.kɔb\. Jacobs is at rank #20,768, tagged as aname, pronounced \ʒa.kɔbs\.
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 26437, this pair ranks #335,019 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Jacob vs Jacobs
Shared letters: abcjo. Private to "Jacob": -. Private to "Jacobs": s.
"Jacob" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Jacobs" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Jacob" for "Jacobs" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Jacob" or "Jacobs"?
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 "Jacob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Jacobs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #335,019 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Jacob" and "Jacobs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Jacobs vs Jakob". 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 #335,019 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.