Why is the letter “W” called “double U” when it looks like double V?

• It’s called “double U” because early versions of the letter actually were two “U”s placed side by side.

📜 History: In medieval Latin scripts, there was no distinct “W” — scribes wrote “uu” (double u) to represent the /w/ sound. Over time, it became one character. In Old English, the sound was originally written with the runic letter ƿ (wynn).

🤔 Trivia: In French, “W” is still called “double V” (doo-bluh vay) — accurately reflecting its shape!