Americans have our own unique way of doing things. For example, we measure with feet instead of yards and Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. The American identity extends to the world of linguistics, too, as American English speakers use different pronunciations and spellings from the rest of the English-speaking world. One prime difference: the final letter of the alphabet, which Americans pronounce as “zee” and other English speakers call “zed.”
The letter “Z” comes from the Greek letter “zeta.” The Romans borrowed that letter from the Greeks when creating the Latin alphabet, which in turn inspired the creation of the modern English alphabet centuries later. “Zed” was adopted as a similar-sounding pronunciation to the original “zeta,” and remains popular today in most English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, and more.
But “zed” has little use in the United States, where “zee” is far more common. Part of the reason may have to do with Americans trying to create a unique identity shortly after declaring independence. Lexicographer Noah Webster worked to standardize American English in the early 19th century, and when he created his American English dictionary, he declared the official pronunciation of the letter to be “zee” — one of many examples of how his conception of English differed from the one spoken by the British.
The American pronunciation was solidified in 1835 when music publisher Charles Bradlee copyrighted a song called “The A.B.C., a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte.” — but you likely know it as “The Alphabet Song.” Bradlee included the “zee” pronunciation in his lyrics, as it rhymed with the “vee” sound that came shortly before it, as well as the letter pronunciations “bee” and “dee.” This song has been used to teach generations of American children the alphabet, so the “zee” pronunciation has become fully entrenched in the American consciousness. That said, other English-speaking countries have swapped out “zee” for “zed” when they sing “The Alphabet Song,” as it more closely aligns with their customs.
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