In Italian, the symbol is informally called the “snail” (chiocciola); in Dutch it is called the “(little) monkey tail” (apenstaartje); in Hebrew, it is informally called Strudel (“שטרודל”); in German it is called the “at symbol” or “spider monkey” (Klammeraffe); and in Chinese, it is known as the “little mouse”.

In Russian, the symbol is informally called the “dog” (sobaka (собака)) or “doggie” (sobachka (собачка)). The Finnish sometimes call the symbol “miukumauku” (meow meow) owing to the symbol’s resemblance to a cat and its tail. In Polish, it is called “małpa,” meaning “monkey;” for its resemblance to a monkey with its arm extended over its head. In Swedish and Danish the sign is known as the “snabel a” (literally trunk a), owning to the resemblance between the sign and the trunk of an elephant. In Greek language the sign is known as “papaki” meaning small duck. In Slovenian, the most common word for it is “afna”, colloquially meaning “monkey”, much like in Polish.