Bizzare Facts

Before it was a hashtag, and before it was the 'pound sign' on a telephone, the **# symbol** had a proper, albeit obscure, name: the **octothorpe**. The origins of the word are murky, but it is believed to have been coined by engineers at Bell Labs in the 1960s.

'Octo' clearly refers to the symbol's eight points. The 'thorpe' part is debated; some claim it was named after the athlete Jim Thorpe, while others suggest it’s an Old English word for a village (referencing the grid layout). Regardless of its etymology, 'octothorpe' remains the correct, if rarely used, technical term for the symbol that now organizes the world's social media conversations.