Thorn Letter (Þ þ): Icelandic th and the Y Behind Ye Olde
Þ, small þ, is thorn: the letter Icelandic uses for the voiceless th of þú, you. Old English and Old Norse wrote the thorn letter too, and the y in “ye olde” is a printer's stand-in for þ. Tap a tile below to copy it. On Windows, type Alt+0254 for þ or Alt+0222 for Þ.
How do you type þ on a keyboard or phone?
On a Mac, þ is Fn/Globe+E, then search "latin small letter thorn", then þ; on Windows it is Alt+0254. Each row below gives the documented method for one device or app; the vendor help pages they come from are linked under the table.
| Device or app | Keys |
|---|---|
| Mac | Fn/Globe+E, then search "latin small letter thorn", then þ How to type accents on a Mac |
| Windows | Alt+0254 How to type accents on Windows |
| Windows, US-International | AltGr+T |
| Microsoft Word | 00fe, then Alt+X How to type accents in Word |
| Google Docs | Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter thorn" How to type accents in Google Docs |
Sources:Mac (Apple) (opens in a new tab)Windows, Microsoft Word (Microsoft) (opens in a new tab)Windows, US-International (Microsoft) (opens in a new tab)Google Docs (Google) (opens in a new tab)
- þ thorn · used in 1 language
- Þ capital thorn · used in 1 language
Which names and places are spelled with þ?
Given names come from Wikidata, the most widely covered first by the number of Wikipedia editions about them, and places come from the GeoNames list of cities, largest population first, kept only where an official language of the country writes the letter.
- Þórunn
- Þorsteinn
- Þóra
- Þorlákur
- Þorvaldur
- Þórður
- Þormóður
- Þorgils
- Þórsteinn
- Þorbjörn
- Þórir
Why does the y in ye olde stand for þ?
Because the early printing presses had no þ. Wiktionary's entry for ye (opens in a new tab) traces the word to Middle English þe and says the press type of the late 15th century lacked the thorn letter. Printers set y, the shape closest to it. The word was traditionally said “the”. The y is a stand-in, not a different word.
Handwriting blurred the two letters as well. ScotlandsPeople (opens in a new tab), the official Scottish records site, warns that in documents of the 16th to 18th centuries thorn looks much like a y. Their guide tells transcribers to write th wherever they meet the letter thorn. So a y-shaped letter in the, other or brother is a thorn.
The spelling had a second life. Wiktionary notes that ye for þe lasted in manuscripts into the 18th century. The 19th century then revived it on shop signs, as a deliberate old-fashioned touch. Wiktionary adds that ye is now often said “yee”, with the sound of a plain y.
| What you see | Where you see it | Read it as |
|---|---|---|
| þe | Middle English manuscripts | the |
| ye | early printed books, where type had no þ | the |
| a y-shaped letter in the, other, brother | Scottish records, 16th to 18th centuries | th |
| Ye Olde on a shop sign | the 19th-century revival and after | the, though often said “yee” |
| th | modern English | th, the spelling that replaced þ |
The last row is how Unicode sums up the letter's fate in English. Its Latin-1 code chart (opens in a new tab) notes that þ was “replaced by th in modern English”.
How does Icelandic use the thorn letter today?
Icelandic writes the thorn letter for the voiceless th, the sound at the start of English thin. Wiktionary transcribes þú (opens in a new tab), you, as [ˈθuː]. The Unicode chart lists Icelandic first among the users of þ, before Old English and phonetics. In the CLDR alphabets behind AccentPad's facts, Icelandic is the only living language with þ.
Everyday words such as you and it start with þ, and so do many given names. The sounds below come from Wiktionary's entries for það (opens in a new tab) and þorn (opens in a new tab).
| Word | Meaning | Pronunciation (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|---|
| þú | you | [ˈθuː] |
| það | it, that | [ˈθaːð] |
| þorn | the name of the letter þ | [ˈθɔ(r)tn̥] |
Names such as Þorsteinn, Þórunn and Þórður start with the letter, and Wikidata lists many more in the names card on this page.
Why does a Danish list file Þóra under T?
Because Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Faroese sorting rules read the thorn letter as th. Icelandic rules give þ a place of its own after z, ahead of æ and ö, as the CLDR Icelandic chart (opens in a new tab) shows. The Danish chart (opens in a new tab) files þ among the t's. English and German rules put it after z, as a letter they do not know.
We tested this on 2026-10-09 with the locale-aware compare built into Node.js v26, which runs ICU 78.3 on CLDR 48 data. Þóra comes from the names in AccentPad's facts. The other names are controls.
| Sorting rules | Result, first to last |
|---|---|
| Icelandic | Dagur, Thor, Tómas, Ýr, Zoltán, Þóra, Ægir, Örn |
| Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Faroese | Dagur, Thor, Þóra, Tómas, Ýr, Zoltán, Ægir, Örn |
| English, German | Ægir, Dagur, Örn, Thor, Tómas, Ýr, Zoltán, Þóra |
| Raw code point order | Dagur, Thor, Tómas, Zoltán, Ægir, Örn, Ýr, Þóra |
Search follows the same split. In search mode with accents ignored, thora finds Þóra under Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Faroese rules. Under Icelandic and English rules it does not. As controls, thor found Thor and did not find tor under every rule set.
If your users are Icelandic, keep þ as a letter and let them search with it. If they type on English keyboards, add th as an extra search key.
How does a passport spell a name with Þ?
In both forms at once. ICAO Doc 9303 (opens in a new tab), the passport standard, lets Þ appear as it is in the printed name, the visual zone. The machine-readable lines at the bottom take only the letters A to Z. For them, the ICAO transliteration table turns Þ into TH and Ð into D.
We applied that table to names from AccentPad's facts. Besides Þ, it uses ICAO's rows for Ó, Á, Ð and Ö.
| Printed name | Machine-readable line |
|---|---|
| Þorsteinn | THORSTEINN |
| Þórunn | THORUNN |
| Þórður | THORDUR |
| Þorlákur | THORLAKUR |
| Þorbjörn | THORBJOERN or THORBJORN |
The TH rule is why an Icelander's name in an English database often starts with Th. A booking form that rejects Þ should ask for the passport spelling, not drop the letter.
How is the thorn letter different from ð?
Today, þ is the voiceless th and ð, eth, is the voiced one. Wiktionary's transcription of það shows both inside one word: [ˈθaːð], with þ at the start and ð at the end. Old English made no such split. CSUN's Old English grammar (opens in a new tab) says that thorn and eth are used interchangeably for both th sounds.
| þ, thorn | ð, eth | |
|---|---|---|
| Icelandic sound | [θ], as in þú | [ð], as at the end of það |
| Old English sound | either th sound | either th sound |
| CLDR alphabets in AccentPad's facts | Icelandic | Faroese, Icelandic |
| Passport machine-readable line | TH | D |
| Unicode, small and capital | U+00FE, U+00DE | U+00F0, U+00D0 |
Where did the thorn letter come from?
From a rune. The Unicode chart describes þ as a “runic letter borrowed into Latin script” and points to ᚦ, which the Runic chart (opens in a new tab) names RUNIC LETTER THURISAZ THURS THORN. Old English used one word, þorn, for the bush, the rune and the letter. Wynn, ƿ, took the same path as Old English thorn, from rune to letter, and CSUN notes it looks like a p.
Medieval scribes built more letters on thorn. The Latin Extended-D chart (opens in a new tab) has ꝥ, LATIN SMALL LETTER THORN WITH STROKE, used in Old English and Old Norse, and ꟓ, LATIN SMALL LETTER DOUBLE THORN, which points back to þ. Each has its own code point, apart from þ.
Which languages use þ?
þ is part of the standard alphabet of 1 language in the Unicode CLDR: Icelandic.
How to type the letter þ, step by step
Step 1: Windows: Alt+0254 for þ, Alt+0222 for Þ
With Num Lock on, hold the Alt key and key 0254 on the number pad. Let go of Alt and þ appears. The capital thorn is Alt+0222.
Step 2: Word: the code 00fe, then Alt+X
Type 00fe where the letter should go and press Alt+X straight away. Word swaps the code for þ. The code 00de followed by Alt+X gives Þ.
Step 3: Mac: the Character Viewer
Press Fn/Globe+E, type latin small letter thorn in the search field and click þ. Search for latin capital letter thorn to get Þ.
Step 4: Google Docs: search the letter by name
Open Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, and type latin small letter thorn into the search box. Click the result to insert it.
Step 5: HTML: the named entity
In a web page, write þ for þ and Þ for Þ. The numeric forms þ and Þ give the same letters.
What are the Alt codes for the letter þ?
Hold Alt and type the digits on the number pad with Num Lock on. The top row of digits does not work, and laptops without a number pad need the methods above.
| Letter | Alt code |
|---|---|
| þ | Alt+0254 |
| Þ | Alt+0222 |
Which characters look like þ?
These look like þ but are different characters, and search, sorting and passwords treat them differently:
- p
- ⍴
- ｐ
- 𝐩
- 𝑝
- 𝒑
- 𝓅
- 𝓹
- 𝔭
- 𝕡
- 𝖕
- 𝗉
- 𝗽
- 𝘱
- 𝙥
- 𝚙
- ƿ
- ρ
- ϱ
- 𝛒
- 𝛠
- 𝜌
- 𝜚
- 𝝆
- 𝝔
- 𝞀
- 𝞎
- 𝞺
- 𝟈
- ϸ
- ⲣ
- ⳏ
- р
What is the Unicode code for þ?
þ is U+00FE, LATIN SMALL LETTER THORN, added in Unicode 1.1 in 1993. In UTF-8 it is stored as the bytes C3 BE, and the table gives every escape a developer needs.
| Code point | U+00FE |
|---|---|
| Name | LATIN SMALL LETTER THORN |
| Added in | Unicode 1.1 (1993) |
| UTF-8 bytes | C3 BE |
| HTML | þ þ þ |
| CSS | \00FE |
| JavaScript | \u00FE |
| Python | \u00fe |
| URL | %C3%BE |
If a page shows þ instead of þ, its UTF-8 bytes are being read as Windows-1252. Serve the page as UTF-8 (<meta charset="utf-8">) to fix it.
Which letters are related to the letter þ?
These letter pages share an accent mark or a language with þ Þ, the most shared languages first.
Whole alphabets with every letter in order, including þ: Icelandic alphabet.
Need a letter other than þ?
Frequently asked questions about the letter þ
What do Icelanders call the letter þ?
Þorn, the same word as English thorn. Wiktionary gives the Icelandic name as [ˈθɔ(r)tn̥]. In Old English, þorn meant a thorny bush, the rune ᚦ and the letter, all at once. Old Norse used þorn for the letter as well, and for the tongue of a buckle.
Why did English stop using the thorn letter?
Scribes switched to the th spelling. Wiktionary's Middle English entry says þ was gradually replaced by th, and the Unicode code chart for Latin-1 records the same outcome. Printing finished the job: type cast for the early presses had no þ, so printers set y.
Can þ come back into the English alphabet?
Not by petition. A UK Parliament petition asked to bring back thorn and eth, and the site rejected it on 17 May 2019. Its reason: spelling is not something the UK Government or Parliament is directly responsible for.
Is þ the same letter as the Greek sho, ϸ?
No. ϸ is U+03F8 GREEK SMALL LETTER SHO, and þ is U+00FE LATIN SMALL LETTER THORN. The Unicode chart for þ points to ϸ as a look-alike, and Unicode's confusables data lists it among the shapes that copy þ. They are separate characters with separate code points.
Does Faroese write þ like Icelandic?
No. The CLDR alphabet of Faroese has ð but no þ. Where Icelandic writes það, it, Faroese writes tað, a cognate that Wiktionary transcribes as [ˈtʰɛa(ː)], with a plain t. Under Faroese sorting rules a stray þ is filed as th.