Named vs Numeric Entities: Which Should You Use in 2025?
Should you write © or ©? € or €? The debate has raged for decades — here’s the definitive answer for modern development.
Named Entities (e.g. ©, —)
Pros:
- Human readable in source code
- Shorter for common symbols
- Self-documenting intent
Cons:
- Not all are universally supported (e.g. ' missing in HTML4)
- Case-sensitive in XHTML
- Can break when parsed as XML
Numeric Entities (e.g. ©, 😊)
Pros:
- 100% compatibility across HTML, XML, JSON, and email
- Support every Unicode character
- Never case-sensitive
- Work inside CDATA and script tags
Performance Reality
Modern browsers parse both equally fast. File size difference is negligible (named entities are often shorter). The real difference is reliability.
Our Recommendation
Use named entities for the 100 most common symbols (copyright, euro, quotes, etc.) — they’re readable and safe in HTML5. Use numeric for everything else — especially emojis, mathematical symbols, and rare characters.
That’s exactly what the AxelBase encoder does automatically: maximum readability with zero risk.
FAQ
Should I ever use '?
Never in HTML5. Use ' instead — it’s universally supported.
Are hex and decimal numeric entities different?
No. © and © are identical. This tool uses hex for consistency.
Readability when possible. Compatibility always.