What is the name of the alphabet used to write English?

The alphabet used to write English is the Latin alphabet. Modern English uses 26 letters, each with uppercase and lowercase forms, although spelling conventions can represent many more sounds than the alphabet has letters.

The Latin alphabet began as the writing system of ancient Rome. It developed from scripts used by the Etruscans, who had adapted a form of the Greek alphabet. Christian missionaries helped spread Latin writing in England from about the 7th century, gradually replacing the earlier Anglo-Saxon runic futhorc.

English once used letters that are no longer part of its standard alphabet, including thorn (þ), eth (ð), wynn (ƿ), and yogh (ȝ). The modern set largely stabilized by the 16th century. The Latin script is also used for thousands of other languages, often with added letters or diacritical marks.

A common mix-up is confusing the Latin alphabet with the English alphabet. The English alphabet is one national-language version of the broader Latin script; other languages may use different letters or accents.