Ogham Translator
Type a name to see it written in Ogham, the alphabet carved on Ireland's standing stones more than 1,500 years ago.
- AAilm, pine
- OOnn, gorse
- IIodhadh, yew
- FFearn, alder
- EEadhadh, aspen
Ogham has no letters for J, K, V, W, X, Y or Z, so they’re written with the nearest sound: J and Y as I, K as C, V as F, W as U. Fadas aren’t written in Ogham.
The Ogham alphabet
Ogham has twenty letters in four groups of five, called aicmí. Each letter is a set of strokes or notches against a central line, usually the edge of a stone. In later tradition each letter was named after a tree or plant, which is why Ogham is sometimes called the tree alphabet.
| Letter | Sound | Name | Tree or plant |
|---|---|---|---|
| ᚁ | B | Beith | birch |
| ᚂ | L | Luis | rowan |
| ᚃ | F | Fearn | alder |
| ᚄ | S | Sail | willow |
| ᚅ | N | Nion | ash |
| ᚆ | H | Uath | hawthorn |
| ᚇ | D | Dair | oak |
| ᚈ | T | Tinne | holly |
| ᚉ | C | Coll | hazel |
| ᚊ | Q | Ceirt | apple |
| ᚋ | M | Muin | vine |
| ᚌ | G | Gort | ivy |
| ᚍ | NG | nGéadal | broom |
| ᚎ | Z | Straif | blackthorn |
| ᚏ | R | Ruis | elder |
| ᚐ | A | Ailm | pine |
| ᚑ | O | Onn | gorse |
| ᚒ | U | Úr | heather |
| ᚓ | E | Eadhadh | aspen |
| ᚔ | I | Iodhadh | yew |
How to read Ogham
On a standing stone, Ogham runs up one edge from the bottom, sometimes over the top and down the other side. Each letter is counted in strokes:
- Aicme Beithe (B, L, F, S, N): one to five strokes on one side of the line.
- Aicme hÚatha (H, D, T, C, Q): one to five strokes on the other side.
- Aicme Muine (M, G, NG, Z, R): one to five strokes slanting across the line.
- Aicme Ailme (A, O, U, E, I): one to five notches or short strokes on the line.
Written on a page, as here, Ogham reads left to right along a line. The marks ᚛ and ᚜ open and close an inscription. Roughly 400 Ogham inscriptions survive, most of them in the south of Ireland. Most carry a person’s name, often “X son of Y,” and date from about the 4th to the 6th century.