What Is Symbol Called? | Names For Common Marks

You’ve got a mark on your screen and you need its name. Maybe you’re writing an assignment, fixing a file name, typing a password, reading a math line, or pasting a character into a box that keeps rejecting it. The name matters because search results, keyboard shortcuts, and style rules all hang on the right label.

This article gives you the names people use most, plus a simple way to pin down the exact one when a mark has more than one label.

Fast way to name a symbol in under a minute

Start with the job the mark is doing. The same shape can carry different names in different places, even when it looks identical.

1. Spot the setting: sentence, formula, code, file name, link, or keyboard input.
2. Check the neighbors: letters, numbers, spaces, or another mark.
3. Check the effect: meaning changes, a formula breaks, a link fails, or nothing changes.

Once you know the setting, the name usually snaps into place.

Common symbol names at a glance

Symbol	Most used name	Where you’ll hear it
@	At sign	Email addresses, social handles
#	Number sign	Phone keypads, tags, headings in code
&	Ampersand	Business names, HTML
*	Asterisk	Footnotes, wildcards, multiplication in code
_	Underscore	Usernames, file names, code identifiers
–	Hyphen	Hyphenated words, simple ranges like 9-5
–	En dash	Ranges like 10–20
—	Em dash	Sentence breaks—like this
‘	Apostrophe	Contractions, possession
“	Quotation mark	Direct speech, strings in code
/	Slash	URLs, fractions, “and/or”
\	Backslash	Windows paths, escaping in code
|	Vertical bar	Pipes in terminals, absolute value in math
~	Tilde	Home folder in terminals, “about” in math notes
^	Caret	Editing notation, exponent input in plain text

That list covers the marks that trip people up most. Next comes the part that saves time: look-alikes. They look close, yet they behave differently.

What Is Symbol Called? in text, code, and math

When someone asks “what is symbol called?” they often mean one of two things.

• They want the everyday name people say out loud.
• They need the exact technical name used by a system, like Unicode, HTML, or a programming language.

Everyday names work for most school answers. Exact names matter when you’re searching documentation, matching a character in a validator, or fixing copy/paste bugs.

Look-alikes that change meaning

Some marks look alike and still do different work. That’s where people get stuck.

Hyphen, minus sign, en dash, em dash

A short horizontal stroke can be four different characters.

• Hyphen (-): joins words like “well-being.”
• Minus sign (−): means subtraction or a negative value in math typesetting.
• En dash (–): links ranges like 10–20.
• Em dash (—): breaks a sentence—like this.

In plain typing, people often use a hyphen for everything because it’s on the keyboard. In textbooks and PDFs, a real minus sign shows up a lot. If a formula looks right but fails in a calculator app, a copied minus sign or dash is a common cause.

Straight quotes and curly quotes

Quotes come in two broad styles.

• Straight quotes: ‘ and ” are the keyboard versions, common in code.
• Curly quotes: ‘ ’ and “ ” are typeset punctuation used in books.

If code breaks after pasting, curly quotes are a usual suspect. Swap them back to straight quotes and try again.

Dot, bullet, middle dot

These can look like “a dot,” yet they do different jobs.

• Period (.): ends sentences and marks decimals.
• Bullet (•): list marker.
• Middle dot (·): multiplication dot in some math writing, also used as a separator.

When you name it, tie the name to the role. “Bullet” is a list mark. “Middle dot” is a math or separator mark.

Symbols with more than one common name

Some marks have more than one everyday label. Pick the label that matches the setting.

• # is “number sign” on many keyboards, “hash” in coding, and “pound sign” in parts of the US.
• / is “slash” in writing, “forward slash” when you’re contrasting it with backslash.
• | is “vertical bar” in typography, “pipe” in command lines.
• ` is “grave accent” in typography and “backtick” in code talk.

How to find the exact name of any character you can copy

If you can select and copy the mark, you can usually identify it precisely. The trick is to use a source that maps the character to a standard label.

Two places that do this cleanly:

• Unicode Code Charts for official character listings by block.
• HTML named character references for entities you can type in HTML, like & for &.

Quick identification steps

1. Copy the symbol from where you found it.
2. Paste it into a plain notes app so styling doesn’t hide what it is.
3. Look it up in the Unicode charts and read the official name.
4. If you’re working in web content, check whether it has an HTML entity name you can type safely.

If you can’t copy it, you might be looking at an image, a logo, or a font-only glyph. In that case, context does most of the work: math, currency, punctuation, or a brand mark.

Names that shift by subject area

The same mark can switch names as soon as you move from a sentence to a formula. Here’s how to keep your naming tidy.

Math and science naming habits

Math labels follow meaning.

• × is the multiplication sign. People may say “times.”
• ÷ is the division sign, read as “divided by.”
• √ is the radical sign, used for roots.
• ≈ is the about-equal sign, read as “about equal.”
• ≠ is the not-equal sign.
• ∞ is the infinity sign.

For class work, a clean pattern is: name the symbol, then state what it means in that line. That reads well and it shows you know what it does.

Writing and editing naming habits

In writing, punctuation names track how the mark shapes the sentence.

• : colon
• ; semicolon
• , comma
• ! exclamation mark
• ? question mark
• … ellipsis
• ( ) parentheses
• [ ] brackets
• { } braces

Some teachers accept “exclamation point” too. If you want one label that stays consistent with question mark, “exclamation mark” keeps things aligned.

Computing and typing naming habits

In computing, names often match the key or the role in syntax.

• _ underscore
• ~ tilde
• | pipe
• \ backslash
• / forward slash
• : colon (also a separator in time and paths)

If you’re writing steps for someone else, pair the spoken name with the character once, then stick to one label after that.

Common symbol groups and what to call them

When you’re trying to name a mark, grouping helps. These clusters show up in everyday tasks.

Currency marks

Currency marks usually take the currency name: dollar sign ($), euro sign (€), pound sign (£), yen sign (¥). A $ sign can refer to multiple dollar currencies, while € is tied to the euro.

Comparison and angle marks

These pop up in math, coding, and markup.

• = equals sign
• < less-than sign
• > greater-than sign
• ≤ less-than or equal to
• ≥ greater-than or equal to

In HTML, less-than and greater-than also act as tag brackets, so you’ll hear “angle brackets” when someone means .

Measurement marks

These show up in weather, geometry, maps, and recipes.

• ° degree sign
• ′ prime (minutes, feet, derivatives)
• ″ double prime (seconds, inches)

A plain apostrophe is not the same as prime, even if they look close in some fonts. In math typesetting, primes are their own characters.

When a symbol name depends on where you’re typing

Sometimes the mark’s name stays the same, yet what you should type changes with the app you’re using.

Word processors and smart punctuation

Word processors may swap straight quotes for curly quotes, and may build an em dash when you type two hyphens. If you need the keyboard character, paste from a plain text editor, or turn off smart punctuation for that line.

Spreadsheets and formulas

In spreadsheets, some marks act like operators.

• = can start a formula.
• : can mark a cell range like A1:A10.
• $ can lock a row or column reference like $A$1.

If a formula fails after pasting, check dashes and quotes first. A copied dash that looks fine can still be a different character under the hood.

File names and URLs

File names and URLs have their own rules. A space may be allowed in a file name yet can be awkward in links. Some systems treat # as a fragment marker in a URL. For school projects, underscores and hyphens travel well across systems.

Second table: quick naming picks for common tasks

Task	Symbol you likely mean	Name to write
Write an email address	@	At sign
Tag a topic in a note	#	Number sign
Join two names in a title	&	Ampersand
Show a range in text	–	En dash
Break a sentence	—	Em dash
Type a file-safe separator	_ or –	Underscore or hyphen
Mark a footnote	*	Asterisk
Run a command pipeline	|	Pipe
Write a Windows path	\	Backslash
Write a web path	/	Forward slash
Show degrees	°	Degree sign

Answering symbol-name questions in school work

When a worksheet asks you to label a mark, the safest move is to use the classroom name and add the symbol once.

• The symbol & is called an ampersand.
• The symbol ° is the degree sign.
• The symbol — is an em dash.

This format reads clean, and it stays clear even if your teacher uses a different nickname in speech.

Mini checklist when you can’t figure out a symbol

If you still wonder what is symbol called?, run this short list.

• Check for a look-alike: hyphen vs minus, straight vs curly quotes, dot vs bullet.
• Switch fonts: a new font can make the shape clearer.
• Try plain text: paste into a plain editor to strip styling.
• Search with the task: pair the mark with your context, like “symbol used in email” or “symbol for degrees.”
• Use a standard list: copy the mark into a Unicode chart search to read the official name.

Where this leaves the question

If you’re asking “what is symbol called?” you’re usually one step away from the right name. Match the mark to its job, then use the label that fits that subject area. If you need a one-to-one match for typing, the Unicode name is the clean tie-breaker.

If you’re sharing the answer with someone else, drop the character into the sentence once. People recognize the shape fast, then the name makes sense.