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."
