What Letter Is 20 in the Alphabet? 20 = T

The 20th letter of the English alphabet is T. T is the most commonly used consonant in English and the second most frequently used letter overall (after E). Knowing that 20 = T is useful for decoding ciphers, solving puzzles, and understanding letter frequency in text analysis. For instant conversions, use our letters to numbers converter.

T in Every Number System

See all 26 letter positions on our alphabet number chart.

How to Convert 20 to T

The A1Z26 system assigns sequential numbers to letters: A=1, B=2, C=3... T=20, U=21... Z=26. To convert any number to its letter:

Method 1: Count from A
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
→ Position 20 = T

Method 2: Formula (ASCII)
Letter = character at code (20 + 64) = character at code 84 = T

// JavaScript
String.fromCharCode(20 + 64)    // "T"

# Python
chr(20 + 64)                     # 'T'

T: The Most Common Consonant

In English text, T appears with remarkable frequency. Here is how it ranks among the most common letters:

This frequency matters in cryptanalysis. When breaking a substitution cipher, the most common letter in the ciphertext likely corresponds to E or T in the plaintext.

T in Morse Code

T in Morse code is a single dash: —

This is the shortest possible Morse code for any letter (along with E, which is a single dot). Samuel Morse deliberately assigned the shortest codes to the most frequently used letters. T's single-dash code reflects its status as the second most common letter in English.

Morse Code for letters near T:
R = . — .     (dot dash dot)
S = . . .     (dot dot dot)
T = —         (dash)
U = . . —     (dot dot dash)
V = . . . —   (dot dot dot dash)

T in Different Encoding Systems

• NATO phonetic alphabet: T = "Tango"
• Braille: T is dots 2-3-4-5 in the Braille cell
• Semaphore: T is represented by left arm straight down and right arm pointing to the upper right
• ROT13 cipher: T (position 20) becomes G (position 7), since 20 + 13 = 33, and 33 - 26 = 7

The History of the Letter T

T has a straightforward evolutionary history:

• Proto-Sinaitic (c. 1800 BC): The letter originated from a mark or sign, possibly representing a cross or brand mark, called "taw" or "tav."
• Phoenician (c. 1050 BC): The Phoenician "taw" looked like an X or a + shape. It was the last letter of the Phoenician alphabet.
• Greek (c. 800 BC): The Greeks adopted it as "tau" and simplified the shape to the T form we recognize today.
• Latin (c. 700 BC): The Romans kept the Greek form nearly unchanged. The modern capital T is almost identical to the Greek tau.

Fun Facts About T

• "THE" is the most common English word, starting with T. It accounts for about 7% of all words in a typical English text.
• T-bone, T-shirt, T-square: Many objects named after their T shape.
• Mr. T: The actor born Laurence Tureaud legally changed his name because he wanted people to address him as "Mr."
• T in mathematics: Often represents a variable for time, transpose of a matrix, or the set of truth values.

T in Programming

// JavaScript
"T".charCodeAt(0)        // 84
"T".charCodeAt(0) - 64   // 20

# Python
ord('T')                  # 84
ord('T') - 64             # 20

// Convert number 20 back to T
String.fromCharCode(20 + 64)  // "T"  (JavaScript)
chr(20 + 64)                   // 'T'  (Python)

Quick Reference: Letters Near T