HTML Character Chart

Named and Numeric Character Entities

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Browsers ignore the charset police. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on them!

The charset police keep saying we should never use named entities, always use numeric entities. Baloney. As we can see below, both work, and they work in all 4 browsers, with a myriad of fonts and charset settings.

They also say, “The entire range from 129 through 159 are invalid characters, and consequently should not be used.” Baloney! I put them in the table below just see where they do and do not work, and tested in four browsers with Unicode and legacy fonts, and with several charset settings. I could not find a font, lang, or charset where 130-159 would not render. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on the charset police!

Test parameters: I tested these in IE7, Chrome1, FireFox3, and Opera9.5, on XP-Pro-SR3-IIS5.1. The list boxes poke your selections into the page head’s meta tags and CSS.

Note: If you select a font you don’t have, you get your browser default, which is usually Times New Roman.

I did find a few a few little surprises:

  • Some chars in the 8000-series do not work in IE unless a Unicode font is selected. But they all do work in Chrome, FireFox, and Opera, with every font I could test.
  • IE and Chrome will not display 9001 or 9002, but Firefox and Opera will.
  • At least for the characters in the table, setting lang and charset to anything and everything, including “bogus”, made no difference at all! Even picking a Unicode font and a charset of us-ascii didn’t stop them from rendering properly!
  • All the used (i.e., not marked as unused) characters in the “invalid” 129-159 range work in all fonts, all charsets, all langs, in all four browsers. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on the charset police again!
  • Selecting any of the W3C-defined generics (serif, sans-serif, monospace, western, and fantasy) only works in IE! The other three completely ignored them and used the browser default. Except that Opera will obey monospace. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on generics fallbacks!
  • You can set font to almost anything, then set charset=bogus, lang=bogus, language name=bogus, and content-language=bogus, and FireFox and Opera will render every named and numbered HTML entity, plus the “invalid” 129-159 range. Chrome will omit only 9001-9002. IE7 will omit those and 35 others in the 8000-series. So ¡℘ƒϑϒ! on lang and charset meta tags!

Conclusion: Just use the named entities and forget all the numbers. And don’t waste as much time as I have over the years worrying about what’s the “proper” charset and encoding to use.

No. Num. Named Nam. Description
34 " quot " quotation mark = APL quote
38 & amp & ampersand
60 < lt < less-than sign
62 > gt > greater-than sign
Invalid: never use’um! (so they say)
129   unused   Unused
130 sbquo baseline single quote
131 ƒ fnof ƒ florin
132 bdquo baseline double quote
133 hellip ellipsis
134 dagger dagger (single)
135 Dagger Dagger (double)
136 ˆ circ ˆ circumflex
137 permil per mille
138 Š Scaron š S caron
139 lsaquo left single guillemet
140 ΠOElig ΠOE ligature
141   x   Unused
142 Ž - Z caron (numeric only)
143   x   unused
144   x   unused
145 lsquo left single quote
146 rsquo right single quote
147 ldquo left double quote
148 rdquo right double quote
149 bull bullet (large)
150 ndash en dash
151 mdash em dash
152 ˜ tilde ˜ tilde
153 trade trademark
154 š scaron š s caron
155 rsaquo right single guillemet
156 œ oelig œ oe ligature
157   x   unused
158 ž -   z caron (numeric only)
159 Ÿ Yuml Ÿ Y diaeresis
(end of “forbidden” range)
160   nbsp   no-break space = non-breaking space
161 ¡ iexcl ¡ inverted exclamation mark
162 ¢ cent ¢ cent sign
163 £ pound £ pound sign
164 ¤ curren ¤ currency sign
165 ¥ yen ¥ yen sign = yuan sign
166 ¦ brvbar ¦ broken bar = broken vertical bar
167 § sect § section sign
168 ¨ uml ¨ diaeresis = spacing diaeresis
169 © copy © copyright sign
170 ª ordf ª feminine ordinal indicator
171 « laquo « left-pointing double angle quotation mark = left pointing guillemet
172 ¬ not ¬ not sign
173 ­ shy ­ soft hyphen = discretionary hyphen
174 ® reg ® registered sign = registered trade mark sign
175 ¯ macr ¯ macron = spacing macron = overline = APL overbar
176 ° deg ° degree sign
177 ± plusmn ± plus-minus sign = plus-or-minus sign
178 ² sup2 ² superscript two = superscript digit two = squared
179 ³ sup3 ³ superscript three = superscript digit three = cubed
180 ´ acute ´ acute accent = spacing acute
181 µ micro µ micro sign
182 para pilcrow sign = paragraph sign
183 · middot · middle dot = Georgian comma = Greek middle dot
184 ¸ cedil ¸ cedilla = spacing cedilla
185 ¹ sup1 ¹ superscript one = superscript digit one
186 º ordm º masculine ordinal indicator
187 » raquo » right-pointing double angle quotation mark = right guillemet
188 ¼ frac14 ¼ vulgar fraction one quarter = fraction one quarter
189 ½ frac12 ½ vulgar fraction one half = fraction one half
190 ¾ frac34 ¾ vulgar fraction three quarters = fraction three quarters
191 ¿ iquest ¿ inverted question mark = turned question mark
192 À Agrave À latin capital A with grave = latin capital A grave
193 Á Aacute Á latin capital A with acute
194  Acirc  latin capital A with circumflex
195 à Atilde à latin capital A with tilde
196 Ä Auml Ä latin capital A with diaeresis
197 Å Aring Å latin capital A with ring above = latin capital A ring
198 Æ AElig Æ latin capital AE = latin capital ligature AE
199 Ç Ccedil Ç latin capital C with cedilla
200 È Egrave È latin capital E with grave
201 É Eacute É latin capital E with acute
202 Ê Ecirc Ê latin capital E with circumflex
203 Ë Euml Ë latin capital E with diaeresis
204 Ì Igrave Ì latin capital I with grave
205 Í Iacute Í latin capital I with acute
206 Î Icirc Î latin capital I with circumflex
207 Ï Iuml Ï latin capital I with diaeresis
208 Ð ETH Ð latin capital ETH
209 Ñ Ntilde Ñ latin capital N with tilde
210 Ò Ograve Ò latin capital O with grave
211 Ó Oacute Ó latin capital O with acute
212 Ô Ocirc Ô latin capital O with circumflex
213 Õ Otilde Õ latin capital O with tilde
214 Ö Ouml Ö latin capital O with diaeresis
215 × times × multiplication sign
216 Ø Oslash Ø latin capital O with stroke = latin capital O slash
217 Ù Ugrave Ù latin capital U with grave
218 Ú Uacute Ú latin capital U with acute
219 Û Ucirc Û latin capital U with circumflex
220 Ü Uuml Ü latin capital U with diaeresis
221 Ý Yacute Ý latin capital Y with acute
222 Þ THORN Þ latin capital THORN
223 ß szlig ß latin small sharp s = ess-zed
224 à agrave à latin small a with grave = latin small a grave
225 á aacute á latin small a with acute
226 â acirc â latin small a with circumflex
227 ã atilde ã latin small a with tilde
228 ä auml ä latin small a with diaeresis
229 å aring å latin small a with ring above = latin small a ring
230 æ aelig æ latin small ae = latin small ligature ae
231 ç ccedil ç latin small c with cedilla
232 è egrave è latin small e with grave
233 é eacute é latin small e with acute
234 ê ecirc ê latin small e with circumflex
235 ë euml ë latin small e with diaeresis
236 ì igrave ì latin small i with grave
237 í iacute í latin small i with acute
238 î icirc î latin small i with circumflex
239 ï iuml ï latin small i with diaeresis
240 ð eth ð latin small eth
241 ñ ntilde ñ latin small n with tilde
242 ò ograve ò latin small o with grave
243 ó oacute ó latin small o with acute
244 ô ocirc ô latin small o with circumflex
245 õ otilde õ latin small o with tilde
246 ö ouml ö latin small o with diaeresis
247 ÷ divide ÷ division sign
248 ø oslash ø latin small o with stroke, = latin small o slash
249 ù ugrave ù latin small u with grave
250 ú uacute ú latin small u with acute
251 û ucirc û latin small u with circumflex
252 ü uuml ü latin small u with diaeresis
253 ý yacute ý latin small y with acute
254 þ thorn þ latin small thorn with
255 ÿ yuml ÿ latin small y with diaeresis
338 ΠOElig Πlatin capital ligature OE
339 œ oelig œ latin small ligature oe
352 Š Scaron Š latin capital S with caron
353 š scaron š latin small s with caron
376 Ÿ Yuml Ÿ latin capital Y with diaeresis
402 ƒ fnof ƒ latin small f with hook = function = florin
710 ˆ circ ˆ modifier letter circumflex accent
732 ˜ tilde ˜ small tilde
913 Α Alpha Α greek capital alpha
914 Β Beta Β greek capital beta
915 Γ Gamma Γ greek capital gamma
916 Δ Delta Δ greek capital delta
917 Ε Epsilon Ε greek capital epsilon
918 Ζ Zeta Ζ greek capital zeta
919 Η Eta Η greek capital eta
920 Θ Theta Θ greek capital theta
921 Ι Iota Ι greek capital iota
922 Κ Kappa Κ greek capital kappa
923 Λ Lambda Λ greek capital lambda
924 Μ Mu Μ greek capital mu
925 Ν Nu Ν greek capital nu
926 Ξ Xi Ξ greek capital xi
927 Ο Omicron Ο greek capital omicron
928 Π Pi Π greek capital pi
929 Ρ Rho Ρ greek capital rho
931 Σ Sigma Σ greek capital sigma
932 Τ Tau Τ greek capital tau
933 Υ Upsilon Υ greek capital upsilon
934 Φ Phi Φ greek capital phi
935 Χ Chi Χ greek capital chi
936 Ψ Psi Ψ greek capital psi
937 Ω Omega Ω greek capital omega
945 α alpha α greek small alpha
946 β beta β greek small beta
947 γ gamma γ greek small gamma
948 δ delta δ greek small delta
949 ε epsilon ε greek small epsilon
950 ζ zeta ζ greek small zeta
951 η eta η greek small eta
952 θ theta θ greek small theta
953 ι iota ι greek small iota
954 κ kappa κ greek small kappa
955 λ lambda λ greek small lambda
956 μ mu μ greek small mu
957 ν nu ν greek small nu
958 ξ xi ξ greek small xi
959 ο omicron ο greek small omicron
960 π pi π greek small pi
961 ρ rho ρ greek small rho
962 ς sigmaf ς greek small final sigma
963 σ sigma σ greek small sigma
964 τ tau τ greek small tau
965 υ upsilon υ greek small upsilon
966 φ phi φ greek small phi
967 χ chi χ greek small chi
968 ψ psi ψ greek small psi
969 ω omega ω greek small omega
977 ϑ thetasym ϑ greek small theta symbol
978 ϒ upsih ϒ greek upsilon with hook symbol
982 ϖ piv ϖ greek pi symbol
8194 ensp en space [inverse (drag-select) these spaces to see them.]
8195 emsp em space
8201 thinsp thin space
8204 zwnj zero width non-joiner
8205 zwj zero width joiner
8206 lrm left-to-right mark
8207 rlm right-to-left mark
8211 ndash en dash
8212 mdash em dash
8216 lsquo left single quotation mark
8217 rsquo right single quotation mark
8218 sbquo single low-9 quotation mark
8220 ldquo left double quotation mark
8221 rdquo right double quotation mark
8222 bdquo double low-9 quotation mark
8224 dagger dagger
8225 Dagger double dagger
8226 bull bullet = black small circle
bullet is NOT the same as dot operator 8901.
8230 hellip horizontal ellipsis = three dot leader
8240 permil per mille sign
8242 prime prime = minutes = feet
8243 Prime double prime = seconds = inches
8249 lsaquo single left-pointing angle quotation mark
8250 rsaquo single right-pointing angle quotation mark
8254 oline overline = spacing overscore
8260 frasl fraction slash
8364 euro euro sign
8465 image blackletter capital I = imaginary part [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8472 weierp script capital P = power set = Weierstrass p [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8476 real blackletter capital R = real part symbol [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8482 trade trade mark sign
8501 alefsym alef symbol = first transfinite cardinal [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8592 larr leftwards arrow
8593 uarr upwards arrow
8594 rarr rightwards arrow
8595 darr downwards arrow
8596 harr left right arrow
8629 crarr downwards arrow with corner leftwardsc = carriage return [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8656 lArr leftwards double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8657 uArr upwards double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8658 rArr rightwards double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8659 dArr downwards double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8660 hArr left right double arrow [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8704 forall for all [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8706 part partial differential
8707 exist there exists [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8709 empty empty set = null set = diameter [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8711 nabla nabla = backward difference [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8712 isin element of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8713 notin not an element of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8715 ni contains as member [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8719 prod n-ary product = product sign
8721 sum n-ary sumation
8722 minus minus sign
8727 lowast asterisk operator [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8730 radic square root = radical sign
8733 prop proportional to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8734 infin infinity
8736 ang angle [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8743 and logical and = wedge [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8744 or logical or = vee [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8745 cap intersection = cap
8746 cup union = cup [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8747 int integral
8756 there4 therefore [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8764 sim tilde operator = varies with = similar to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8773 cong approximately equal to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8776 asymp almost equal to = asymptotic to
8800 ne not equal to
8801 equiv identical to
8804 le less-than or equal to
8805 ge greater-than or equal to
8834 sub subset of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8835 sup superset of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8836 nsub not a subset of [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8838 sube subset of or equal to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8839 supe superset of or equal to [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8853 oplus circled plus = direct sum [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8855 otimes circled times = vector product [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8869 perp up tack = orthogonal to = perpendicular [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8901 sdot dot operator NOT the same character as middot or bull. [ IE, no, unless a Unicode font is selected. ]
8968 lceil left ceiling = apl upstile
8969 rceil right ceiling
8970 lfloor left floor = apl downstile
8971 rfloor right floor
9001 lang left-pointing angle bracket = bra
lang is NOT the same character as 'less than' [ IE, Chrome: No. FireFox, Opera, Yes. ]
9002 rang right-pointing angle bracket = ket
rang is NOT the same character as 'greater than' [ IE, Chrome: No. FireFox, Opera, Yes. ]
9674 loz lozenge
9824 spades black spade suit
black here seems to mean filled as opposed to hollow
9827 clubs black club suit = shamrock
9829 hearts black heart suit = valentine
9830 diams black diamond suit

About ¡℘ƒϑϒ!: It means pfui! or fooey! I used a combination of one “invalid” character, one from the 300-series, and one from the 900-series. It could be like this: ℘ƒ∪Ÿ! but that breaks in IE, which is too stupid to understand a Weierstrass p.

—kv5r

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