What's in a Name?

So, is it mah jongg. mahjong, mahjongg or what? ACK!

Although there is not total agreement about the origins of the game, it is generally believed to have originated in China in the 1880s. The Chinese called it "máquè," meaning sparrow. In 1920, American Joseph Babcock returned from China with a set ready to market it in America. He changed the name to "Mah Jongg" (two words; two gg's at the end) from an even older Chinese word that also meant sparrow. The game is named for sparrows because that is what the sound of the tiles clicking together when being "washed" sounded like to early players. It's also why that One Bam has a bird--usually a sparrow--depicted instead of a shoot of bamboo.

When Viola Cecil and Dorothy Meyerson formed the National Mah Jongg League and established consistent rules of play in 1937 (thus creating "American Mah Jongg"), they used the Chinese mah jongg set (with 144 tiles; 8 joker tiles being added in 1960). They also kept the name popularized by Mr. Babcock--including his use of two words and two gg's.

That's why when people write about "American" mah jongg, it is usually spelled as two words with two gg's; and the countless other versions spell it as one word and one g. So although you will see the American version spelled both ways, it's rare to see non-American versions spelled as two words with two gg's. No group lays claim to spelling it as one word with two gg's! A rose is a rose, eh?