Keyboard symbol names and punctuation guide
Every key on your keyboard has a formal and informal name, but many users wonder what @, #, ~, ^, |, or \ are called. Here is the definitive list of keyboard symbol names, their historical meanings, programming uses, and pronunciation guide for every keycap.
The complete keyboard symbol names chart
Standard computer keyboards feature over thirty non-alphanumeric punctuation and symbol keys. Here is the master reference showing the character, its official name, everyday alternative names, and common computing usage:
| Char | Primary Name | Also Known As | Common Computing Role |
|---|---|---|---|
~ | Tilde | Squiggle, twiddle, swung dash | Home directory in Unix, bitwise NOT |
` | Backtick | Grave accent, backquote | Markdown code spans, template literals |
! | Exclamation Mark | Bang, shriek, exclamation point | Logical NOT, factorials |
@ | At Sign | Commercial at, strudel, address sign | Email addresses, social media mentions |
# | Number Sign | Hash, pound sign, octothorpe | Hashtags, comments in Python/Bash |
$ | Dollar Sign | Cash mark, peso sign | Currency, jQuery selector, regex end of line |
% | Percent Sign | Modulo, per cent | Percentages, modulus remainder operator |
^ | Caret | Hat, circumflex, chevron | Exponentiation, bitwise XOR, regex start of line |
& | Ampersand | And sign, address-of operator | Logical AND, HTML entity prefix, pointers |
* | Asterisk | Star, splat, wildcard | Multiplication, wildcards, globbing |
- | Hyphen-Minus | Dash, minus sign, hyphen | Subtraction, negative numbers, flags |
_ | Underscore | Understrike, low line, underbar | Snake_case variable naming, file spaces |
+ | Plus Sign | Addition sign, cross | Addition, string concatenation |
= | Equals Sign | Equality sign, assignment operator | Assignment, equations |
| | Vertical Bar | Pipe, vertical line, bar | Piping shell commands, logical OR |
\ | Backslash | Reverse solidus, escape key | Escape sequences (\n, \t), Windows file paths |
/ | Forward Slash | Slash, solidus, stroke | Division, URLs, Unix directory paths |
: | Colon | Two dots | Ratios, time separators, key-value pairs |
; | Semicolon | Semi | Statement terminator in C, Java, JS |
' | Single Quote | Apostrophe, tick, prime | String literals, contractions |
" | Double Quote | Quotation mark, speech mark | String literals, quotes in prose |
< | Less Than | Left angle bracket, open chevron | Comparison, HTML/XML tag opening |
> | Greater Than | Right angle bracket, close chevron | Comparison, HTML/XML tag closing |
? | Question Mark | Interrogation mark, query | Conditional ternary operator, help flags |
Deep-dive: where the unusual names come from
Several keys have colorful etymologies that puzzle people outside the software industry:
- Ampersand (&): The ampersand originated as a Latin cursive ligature of the letters “e” and “t” (spelling et, Latin for “and”). In nineteenth-century English schools, the symbol was recited as the twenty-seventh letter of the alphabet: “and per se and”, which slurred into “ampersand”.
- Octothorpe (#): In the 1960s, Bell Labs telephone engineers needed an official name for the hash or pound sign on touch-tone phones. Employee Don MacPherson coined “octothorpe”, combining “octo” (for its eight points) with a reference to the athlete Jim Thorpe.
- Tilde (~): The tilde comes from the Latin titulus (superscript mark). Medieval monks used it over letters as a shorthand abbreviation for missing “m” or “n” sounds, which survived into Spanish ñ and Portuguese ã. In Unix operating systems, the tilde represents the user's home directory.
- Pipe (|): The vertical bar was added to computing by Doug McIlroy at Bell Labs for Unix pipelines, which “pipe” the text output of one program directly into the input of another.
- Backslash (\): Computer scientist Bob Bemer introduced the backslash in 1961 for IBM systems to serve as a designated escape character, ensuring programs could distinguish control commands from literal text.
Brackets, braces, and parentheses
English speakers frequently mix up the names of enclosing punctuation marks. Here is the formal terminology:
( )Parentheses (singular: parenthesis), commonly called round brackets. Used in math for order of operations and in grammar for supplementary information.[ ]Square brackets (often simply called “brackets” in American computing). Used for arrays in programming and editorial insertions in quotes.{ }Curly braces (or curly brackets, braces). Used in code blocks (C, Java, JavaScript, CSS) to enclose functions and rule sets.< >Angle brackets (or chevrons). Used for HTML tags (<div>) and comparison operators.
Explore all enclosing pairs in our bracket symbols collection.
Mac modifier key symbols
Apple keyboards use unique symbolic glyphs in menus instead of writing out key names:
- ⌘ Command key: The Saint Hannes cross / looped square, representing the primary system modifier.
- ⌥ Option key: The railway track switch symbol, representing an alternative branch or choice.
- ⌃ Control key: The caret-like chevron symbol.
- ⇧ Shift key: The upward hollow arrow.
- ⎋ Escape key: A circle with an escaping arrow.
See our full Mac keyboard symbols collection to copy any Apple menu keycap.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ~ symbol called?
It is called a tilde (pronounced TIL-duh). Informally, programmers often call it a squiggle or twiddle.
What is the # symbol officially called?
Its formal typographical name is number sign. In computing and telecommunications it is called hash or octothorpe; in North America it is also called pound sign.
What is the difference between backslash and forward slash?
The forward slash / leans forward (top to right) and is used in URLs and dates. The backslash \ leans backward (top to left) and is used in file paths and programming escape codes.
What is the vertical line | key called?
It is called the vertical bar, or simply pipe in computing.