Mahjong Tile Identifier

All 34 mahjong tiles

Every playable tile is listed below with its English name and the nicknames players use. Each tile has a shareable anchor — for example #s3 for the 3 of Bamboo.

How to use the tile identifier

A mahjong tile identifier answers a question beginners ask constantly: what is this tile called? Tap any face in the grid. The panel shows the standard English name, the suit, the rank when it is a number tile, and the other names you will hear at different tables — Craks and Man for characters, Circles and Pins for dots, Bams and Sou for bamboo, Soap and Po for the white dragon.

The full catalogue further down the page is not decoration. Every one of the 34 tiles is rendered in the HTML so search engines and shared links can land on a specific tile. Open /tools/tile-identifier#s3 and you jump straight to Three of Bamboo. That makes the page a durable reference, not only an interactive widget.

Names differ by language and by region. American players say Bams and Craks; Japanese tables say Sou and Man; Cantonese tables use 条子 and 万子. The identifier lists those aliases side by side so a nickname you heard online still maps back to the same physical tile. The white dragon lists Soap and Po because those are real American calls — it never renames the tile as a colour dragon.

Once you can name the tiles, the next questions are usually about shape and score. The hand checker tells you how far a set of tiles is from ready. The score calculator (when available) reads a completed Hong Kong hand and lists every pattern it matches. This identifier stays focused on recognition so it stays fast to open while you learn.

Use it beside a physical set, a screenshot, or another site. Nothing you tap is uploaded. The page is free, needs no download, and keeps the same 34-tile set the Hong Kong practice tables on this site use — no flowers, no red fives, just the tiles you actually draw in the games here.

Frequently asked questions

How many tiles does the identifier cover?

All 34 kinds used in Hong Kong mahjong: nine characters, nine dots, nine bamboo, four winds and three dragons. Flowers, seasons and red fives are omitted because they are not part of the Hong Kong set this site plays.

Why does the white dragon list Soap?

Soap and Po are common American nicknames for the white dragon tile. They are listed as aliases so players who learned those names can still find the tile. The Chinese name remains 白板 — the site never calls it a white dragon in Chinese copy.

Can I link to a specific tile?

Yes. Each tile has an anchor equal to its id, such as #m1 or #z5. Share that URL and the page opens scrolled to that tile in the catalogue.

Are the pictures the same as in the games?

Yes. The identifier uses the same tile faces as the practice tables, so the tile you learn here looks like the tile you will see when you play.

Does this teach scoring?

No. Recognition only. For shanten and waiting tiles use the hand checker; for Hong Kong fan values use the score calculator.

Related tools

• Mahjong Hand Checker
• Mahjong Score Calculator