a HackerNoon project
Original · left

X (letter)

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

X (social network)

First in use: c. 2023

X / X (letter) / X (social network)

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Canonical todayMeasuring…
Status—
Duplicate share · 12 mo—
Last crossover—
Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

The 24th letter vs. Elon Musk's rebrand of Twitter.

Which meaning of X is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? X (letter) came first (ancient / pre-modern). X (social network) arrived in 2023. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

X (letter)X (social network)
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

X (letter)

Loading the Wikipedia definition…

12-mo pageviews—
Year over year—
Peak month—
Duplicate · c. 2023

X (social network)

Loading the Wikipedia definition…

12-mo pageviews—
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More duplicated terms

Business & startups