nombrevsnomeTell them apart

Which to use

“nombre” and “nome” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,996
“nombre” frequency rank
#153
“nome” frequency rank
45149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nombre nome
Definition número termo para designar, distinguir ou qualificar pessoa, coisa, lugar, situação ou sentimento

Where the eye mixes nombre and nome

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. nombre runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against nome's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
nombre
4 ch
nome

Why the eye confuses nombre with nome

A purely visual mix-up. nombre (/ˈnɔm.bɾə/) and nome (/ˈno.mɨ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nombre is recorded at frequency rank #44,996, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈnɔm.bɾə/. nome is at rank #153, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈno.mɨ/.

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 45149, this pair ranks #20,268 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nombre vs nome

Shared letters: emno. Private to "nombre": br. Private to "nome": -.

"nombre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "nome" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nombre ← nmobre · nnombre · nobmre · nombbre · nomber · nombrre · nommbre · nomrbe
  • nome ← nmoe · nnome · noem · nomme · onme

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nombre" for "nome" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈnɔm.bɾə/ versus /ˈno.mɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "nombre" vs "nome" - which ranks higher?
"nome" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #153 in our Portuguese list, against #44,996 for "nombre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "nombre" and "nome" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nombre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nome" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #20,268 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nombre" and "nome" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nômade vs nombre". 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 #20,268 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list