What are number names?

Numbers written in words, like forty-two for 42. They are also called word form.

How do you write numbers in words?

Split the number at the commas into periods. Read each period from one to nine hundred ninety-nine, then add its name: million or thousand.

Do you use “and” in number names?

In the US, no: one hundred five. In India and the UK, “one hundred and five” is common. Both are accepted in most schools.

When do you use a hyphen?

For numbers from 21 to 99 that aren’t whole tens: twenty-one, thirty-six, ninety-nine.

How do you write 1,00,000 in words?

One lakh in the Indian system, or one hundred thousand in the international system.

Number names

A number name is a number written in words, like twenty-six thousand eight for 26,008. Quiz for kids, parent help below.

🧒 Kids: read it one chunk at a time!

Commas split big numbers into chunks. Read each chunk, then say its name: 26,008 is twenty-six thousand, eight. A chunk of zeros is never read out. Then try the quiz!

▶ Quiz 🔢 More practice 🧮 Calculator

💡 Trick: Read the digits before each comma, then say million or thousand. Skip any chunk of 000!

More on place value: Tens and ones · Hundreds, tens and ones · Expanded form · Number names · Place value and face value

For parents and teachers ↓

This part is for grown-ups: the key idea, pictures to draw, what to say, common mistakes, questions with answers and a free worksheet.

The trick: read period by period

Split the number at the commas. Read each group of up to three digits as if it were on its own, then add the period name: million or thousand. The last group has no name. A group of 000 is skipped completely.

42: forty-two
305: three hundred five
26,008: twenty-six thousand eight
4,000,050: four million fifty

Patterns to spot

Every period is read the same way, from one to nine hundred ninety-nine.
Period names are never plural: two million, not two millions.
A 0 is never said aloud. 305 is three hundred five, with no “zero”.
The teens 13 to 19 all end in -teen, and the tens 20 to 90 end in -ty.
Numbers 21 to 99 that aren’t whole tens need a hyphen.
In the Indian system, lakhs and crores are read as two-digit groups: 70,08,500 is seventy lakh eight thousand five hundred.

Key words

Number name: a number written in words, like forty-two. Also called word form.
Numeral: a number written in digits, like 42.
Period: a group of three places: ones, thousands, millions. Each period is read as one chunk.
Hyphen: the short dash in numbers like twenty-one to ninety-nine.
Lakh and crore: Indian names for 1,00,000 and 1,00,00,000.

Why it matters: Number names are used on cheques, in formal writing and whenever a number is read aloud. Writing them carefully also checks place value: every period and every zero has to be in the right place.

See it: pictures to draw with your child

Draw these on paper, or build them with sticks, blocks or coins. Seeing the groups makes the digits make sense.

Each period is read as one chunk, followed by its name.

26,008: the ones period is 008, so it is read simply as eight.

In the Indian system, 70,08,500 is seventy lakh eight thousand five hundred.

What your child already knows

Children already say numbers out loud every day. Writing them is about spelling the words and putting the periods in order, which uses the same place value they know from charts.

In real life: Cheques need the amount in words as well as digits, so it can’t be changed. Number names are also on certificates, legal forms and in books, and children meet them in word problems.

Spelling rules for number names

Hyphens join the tens and ones from 21 to 99: twenty-one, forty-five, ninety-nine.
No hyphen after hundred or thousand: three hundred twelve, four thousand six.
Forty has no u, even though four does. Also check eight, eighteen and eighty.
“And”: in the US, “one hundred five” has no “and”. In India and the UK, “one hundred and five” is common. Both are understood.
No plurals for period names: three thousand, not three thousands.

In India, numbers from 1 lakh up use lakhs and crores: 25,00,000 is twenty-five lakh. The international name is two million five hundred thousand.

Worked examples

Example 1: Digits to words

Write 6,415 in words.
The thousands period is 6: six thousand.
The ones period is 415: four hundred fifteen.
Together: six thousand four hundred fifteen.

Example 2: Zeros in the middle

Write 20,070 in words.
The thousands period is 20: twenty thousand.
The ones period is 070: seventy.
Together: twenty thousand seventy.

Example 3: Words to digits

Write eight hundred thousand nine in digits.
The thousands period is 800.
The ones period is 9, written as 009.
The number is 800,009.

Common mistakes

Saying the zeroWrites 305 as three hundred zero five.Fix: a 0 is never said: three hundred five.

Missing zeros in digitsWrites four thousand six as 46.Fix: the ones period needs three digits: 4,006.

Spelling fortyWrites fourty.Fix: four keeps the u, but forty drops it.

What to say to your child

A short script for your first session. Pause after each line and let your child answer.

“How many periods does 26,008 have?” (Two: thousands and ones.)
“How do we read the 26?” (Twenty-six thousand.)
“And the 008?” (Eight.)
“Do we say zero?” (No.)
“Write ‘five thousand forty’ in digits.” (5,040.)

Questions to try (answers below)

Ask these out loud or write them down. The last one is a stretch.

Write 58 in words.
Write 407 in words.
Write 3,090 in words.
Write 12,600 in words.
Write two hundred sixteen in digits.
Write nine thousand nine in digits.
Write seventy thousand four hundred in digits.
Write 2,500,000 in words.
Stretch: write 25,00,000 in the Indian way.

Show the answers

fifty-eight
four hundred seven
three thousand ninety
twelve thousand six hundred
216
9,009
70,400
two million five hundred thousand
twenty-five lakh

Games to play at home

Cheque practice

Write pretend cheques for prices around the house, with the amount in digits and in words.

Read the odometer

Read big numbers from a car odometer, a newspaper or a population sign aloud, period by period.

Word to digit race

One player writes a number in words. The other races to write it in digits. Swap and check with the calculator.

A 5-day plan for number names

Ten minutes a day is enough. Short, regular practice works far better than one long session.

Day 1: Learn it with the pictures above: draw them on paper or build them with blocks, and talk them through.
Day 2: Read the script together, then ask the first four questions.
Day 3: Do the quiz at the top of the page and read the working for anything missed.
Day 4: Play one of the games at home for ten minutes.
Day 5: Ask the rest of the questions, then do a round of the matching practice skill.

By grade

Grade 1 reads and writes numbers to 120. Grade 2 (Common Core 2.NBT.A.3) writes numbers to 1,000 in words, and grade 4 (4.NBT.A.2) to 1,000,000. In India, number names with lakhs and crores are taught in classes 4 and 5, and large numbers in class 7.

CBSE families: see the class 7 parent guide for Large Numbers Around Us, which reads big numbers in both systems.

More for each grade: Grade 1 math and the CBSE class 1 maths guide; Grade 2 math and the CBSE class 2 maths guide; Grade 3 math and the CBSE class 3 maths guide; Grade 4 math and the CBSE class 4 maths guide; Grade 5 math and the CBSE class 5 maths guide.

What comes next

Next, learn place value and face value. Type any number into the place value calculator to see its name in both systems.

Worksheet and more practice

Print a free worksheet with an answer key, or keep practicing online with place value practice.

Printable worksheets: expanded form worksheet · place value worksheet · make a fresh place value test

← Expanded form Place value and face value →

More: place value for kids · place value calculator · practice · place value chart · decimal place value