Denominations Above One Million
Most people know 1,000 is called a thousand, and 1,000,000 is called a million, but what is a quadrillion? Or a sextillion? I have compiled this list for that purpose.
There is not a standard naming scheme for numbers over a million, and different countries call numbers different things. There are two common naming conventions, most countries use one or the other. They are the Short Scale system (formerly called the American system), and the Long Scale system (formerly called the British system.)
Short Scale system, used in the United States, post-1974 United Kingdom, English-speaking Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and most English speaking countries not listed.
Long Scale system, used in France, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Spain, Finland, Poland, Sweden, pre-1975 United Kingdom, and others. Some long scale countries call the billion a milliard.
Some countries use neither of these two scales, including China, Japan, Greece, Korea, and India.
The list is a bit difficult to read, sorry, I couldn't write out the numbers, since a number with 600 zeros after it would take up quite a bit of room.
Number | Number of Zeros | Short System (American, UK) |
Long System (traditional British) |
103 | 3 | thousand | thousand |
106 | 6 | million | million |
109 | 9 | billion | milliard |
1012 | 12 | trillion | billion |
1015 | 15 | quadrillion | --- |
1018 | 18 | quintillion | trillion |
1021 | 21 | sextillion | --- |
1024 | 24 | septillion | quadrillion |
1027 | 27 | octillion | --- |
1030 | 30 | nonillion | quintillion |
1033 | 33 | decillion | --- |
1036 | 36 | undecillion | sextillion |
1039 | 39 | duodecillion | --- |
1042 | 42 | tredecillion | septillion |
1045 | 45 | quattuordecillion | --- |
1048 | 48 | quindecillion | octillion |
1051 | 51 | sexdecillion | --- |
1054 | 54 | septendecillion | nonillion |
1057 | 57 | octodecillion | --- |
1060 | 60 | novemdecillion | decillion |
1063 | 63 | vigintillion | --- |
1066 | 66 | --- | undecillion |
1072 | 72 | --- | duodecillion |
1078 | 78 | --- | tredecillion |
1084 | 84 | --- | quattuordecillion |
1090 | 90 | --- | quindecillion |
1096 | 96 | --- | sexdecillion |
10102 | 102 | --- | septendecillion |
10108 | 108 | --- | octodecillion |
10114 | 114 | --- | novemdecillion |
10120 | 120 | --- | vigintillion |
10303 | 303 | centillion | --- |
10600 | 600 | --- | centillion |
There are other names of numbers that are not part of any standard number system.
Number | Number of Zeros | Name |
10100 | 100 | googol |
10googol | (too many to write down) | googolplex |
Though generally speaking, a googol is just a term that means "A very big number" and a googolplex is just a term that means "An unimaginably large number."