Why Is W Called Double-U? The History Explained

The Most Misnamed Letter in the Alphabet

Say the alphabet out loud. Go ahead. A, B, C, D, E, F, G… every single letter rolls off the tongue in one syllable. Then you hit W. Double-you. Three syllables. A full-on word, not a name. The rhythm breaks completely.

W is the only letter in the English alphabet with a multi-syllabic name. That alone would be strange enough. But it gets worse: the name isn’t even phonetically accurate.

Where Did “Double-U” Come From?

The story begins around the 7th century. Old English scribes needed a way to write the /w/ sound — a sound that didn’t exist in the Latin alphabet they had inherited. Their solution was practical: double up the letter u (or sometimes v, since the two were largely interchangeable at the time) to create a new character.

So the name double-u is essentially a description of how the letter was originally constructed: two us placed side by side. UU.

By the 11th century, Norman scribes had introduced a single ligature — the shape we recognize today — and the letter was born. But the name stuck.

The Problem: The Name is Already Wrong

Here’s where it gets absurd. Look at a capital W. Really look at it.

It’s not two U’s. It’s two V’s. The shape has two sharp peaks, not two rounded curves. It should, by its own logic, be called Double-V. In fact, that’s exactly what speakers of French, Spanish, and Portuguese call it — double vé.

So we’ve inherited a name that was invented as a workaround over a thousand years ago, describes a construction method rather than a sound, and doesn’t even describe the modern shape correctly.

A Letter That Deserves Better

None of this is the letter’s fault. W is extraordinary. It gives us wonder, wisdom, water, and world. Four of the five fundamental questions of human inquiry — Who, What, Where, When, Why — begin with W. It’s one of the most important letters in the language.

The letter isn’t broken. The name is.

What Should We Call It Instead?

That’s exactly what we’re here to figure out. A good letter name should be:

• One syllable — like every other letter
• Phonetically accurate — it should start with (or be) the /w/ sound
• Easy to say — in context, in a spelling bee, in the alphabet

Current leading contenders include Wee, Wah, and Way. Each has its case. None of them are three syllables. None of them describe a manufacturing process from the Dark Ages.

History gave us Double-U by accident. We can do better on purpose.