arts & culture

The # symbol isn’t officially called hashtag or pound

Although almost everyone knows and even refers to the # symbol as either "hashtag" or "pound", its technical name is actually "octothorpe". Its simple to understand where the “octo-” comes from since it means “eight” and refers to the symbol's eight points. The "thorpe" part of its name is less simple. Some claim it was named after Olympian Jim Thorpe, while others argue it was just a nonsense suffix.

Share: