Light cursive or bold cursive?
Unicode has two cursive alphabets, both made for maths: script (𝒜𝒷𝒸) and bold script (𝓐𝓫𝓬). Bold script is complete from A to z, so every letter comes from the same design and it looks the most even. Light script is missing eleven letters in its own block (B E F H I L M R e g o); Unicode fills them from the older Letterlike Symbols block (ℬ ℰ ℱ ℋ ℐ ℒ ℳ ℛ ℯ ℊ ℴ), which some phones draw in a slightly different shape.
| Style | Capitals | Lowercase | Digits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold cursive | 𝓐𝓑𝓒𝓓𝓔𝓕𝓖𝓗𝓘𝓙𝓚𝓛𝓜𝓝𝓞𝓟𝓠𝓡𝓢𝓣𝓤𝓥𝓦𝓧𝓨𝓩 | 𝓪𝓫𝓬𝓭𝓮𝓯𝓰𝓱𝓲𝓳𝓴𝓵𝓶𝓷𝓸𝓹𝓺𝓻𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓿𝔀𝔁𝔂𝔃 | 𝟎𝟏𝟐𝟑𝟒𝟓𝟔𝟕𝟖𝟗 |
| Cursive | 𝒜ℬ𝒞𝒟ℰℱ𝒢ℋℐ𝒥𝒦ℒℳ𝒩𝒪𝒫𝒬ℛ𝒮𝒯𝒰𝒱𝒲𝒳𝒴𝒵 | 𝒶𝒷𝒸𝒹ℯ𝒻ℊ𝒽𝒾𝒿𝓀𝓁𝓂𝓃ℴ𝓅𝓆𝓇𝓈𝓉𝓊𝓋𝓌𝓍𝓎𝓏 | plain |
Handwriting look-alikes
The wavy and curly styles are not script letters: they borrow shapes from other alphabets (Tai Viet, IPA and others) that happen to look hand-drawn. They give a softer, more casual feel than the formal script letters.
Where cursive works
Cursive shows on almost every phone made in the last decade and in all major apps that accept text: bios, display names, captions, comments and chats. Most apps do not accept it in the @username. Screen readers may read each letter as "mathematical script capital..." or skip it, so keep important information in plain text too.
How these cursive styles are made
Cursive font generator: what Unicode block each style is built from, and which letters stay plain.
| Style | Example | Built from | Letters left plain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold cursive | 𝓒𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽 | Mathematical Bold Script, a complete set from A to z | none |
| Cursive | 𝒞𝓊𝓇𝓈𝒾𝓋ℯ 𝓉ℯ𝓍𝓉 | Mathematical Script letters; 11 of them (B E F H I L M R e g o) come from the older Letterlike Symbols block | none |
| Cursive and bold mix | 𝒞𝓾𝓇𝓼𝒾𝓿ℯ 𝓽ℯ𝔁𝓉 | Script and bold script letters, alternating | none |
| Cursive with hearts | 𝒞♡𝓊♡𝓇♡𝓈♡𝒾♡𝓋♡ℯ 𝓉♡ℯ♡𝓍♡𝓉 | Script letters with ♡ between them | none |
| Sparkly cursive | ✧·˚: *✧ 𝓒𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽 ✧*:·˚✧ | Bold script between ✧ sparkle strings | none |
| Underlined cursive | 𝓒̲𝓾̲𝓻̲𝓼̲𝓲̲𝓿̲𝓮̲ 𝓽̲𝓮̲𝔁̲𝓽̲ | Bold script letters with a combining low line (U+0332) | none |
| Cute | ꒰ა 𝒞𝓊𝓇𝓈𝒾𝓋ℯ 𝓉ℯ𝓍𝓉 ໒꒱ | Script letters inside ꒰ა ໒꒱ | none |
| Magic | ✧˖°. 𝓒𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽 .°˖✧ | Bold script between ✧˖°. sparkles | none |
| Love | ♡ 𝒞𝓊𝓇𝓈𝒾𝓋ℯ 𝓉ℯ𝓍𝓉 ♡ | Script letters between ♡ hearts | none |
| Wings | ꧁ 𝓒𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽 ꧂ | Bold script inside ꧁ ꧂ wings (Javanese ornaments) | none |
| Wavy handwriting | ᥴꪊ᥅ᦓ꠸ꪜꫀ ꪻꫀ᥊ꪻ | Tai Viet and other letters that look hand-drawn | none |
| Curly | ƈųཞʂı۷ɛ ɬɛҳɬ | Phonetic and Latin letters with hooks | none |
Questions
How do I get cursive letters on Instagram?
Type here, tap a cursive style to copy it, then paste it into your Instagram name or bio. The @username itself only accepts plain letters.
Is there a cursive font for numbers?
Bold script uses bold maths digits (𝟏𝟐𝟑). Light script has no digits of its own, so numbers stay plain.
Why are some cursive letters a different size?
Eleven light script letters come from an older Unicode block and some fonts draw them differently. Use bold cursive for an even look.
Can I make only my first name cursive?
Yes. Open Make your own, choose a cursive style under Letters and First word under Apply to.