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What is the name for the top left cell of a table? The one next to the column headers and above the row headers. Does it even have a technical name?

E.g. the cell with ??? in this table:

+-----+------+------+
|???  |Yes   |No    |
+-------------------+
|A    |1     |4     |
|B    |2     |5     |
|C    |3     |6     |
+-----+------+------+
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  • 3
    "Top left" is normal, but if you said "first cell" people would get what you meant too.
    – Rupe
    Jul 4, 2014 at 12:30
  • I guess there could be a nickname among typographers, as that cell is quite special, but I wouldn't know what it is.
    – RegDwigнt
    Jul 4, 2014 at 12:34
  • Why the downvote? It's a perfectly good question: not easy to google for it, this term might exist or might not, so asking it here is entirely appropriate.
    – o0'.
    Jul 4, 2014 at 12:42
  • 1
    "Top left" is clear (at least for RTL languages). "First cell" is good but could refer to the first data cell (1 in my example).
    – dave1010
    Jul 4, 2014 at 12:59
  • @dave1010 Yep that's a fair point about "first cell".
    – Rupe
    Jul 4, 2014 at 13:19

3 Answers 3

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The top left corner of any display is called the Canton in English heraldry.
In the U.S. flag, for instance, the blue part with white stars is the canton.

In a table, it's usually blank because the top row and left column are labels, not data;
so whatever appears in the top left box can't be either. Thus it's available for special purposes.

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    Very nice. I often use a bend sinister in that cell — so ⧅ with text in both halves. That way I can separately and unambiguously label the column headers extending to the right of that cell and the row headers beneath it.
    – tchrist ♦
    Jul 4, 2014 at 15:05
  • I do much the same thing, though I rarely hafta deal with spreadsheets these days.
    – John Lawler
    Jul 4, 2014 at 15:08
  • Can you use canton for a table and table cell?
    – ermanen
    Jul 4, 2014 at 15:39
  • You certainly can if you want to. Spreadsheets are entirely new technology and, like all such, use entirely metaphorical terminology; there certainly is no specific term for it hallowed by centuries of tradition. The only problem is whether anybody will understand canton in the appropriate heraldic way; my guess is that few will -- because heraldry is a fairly rare topic of interest -- so you'll hafta sell the term yourself if you use it. But there's certainly no reason why you can't.
    – John Lawler
    Jul 4, 2014 at 16:46
  • I have no idea. As I said, this is all new territory; you pays your money and you takes your choice.
    – John Lawler
    Jul 4, 2014 at 18:37
3

It’s called the northwest corner cell.

For example:

Select the northwest corner cell of the transportation table and allocate as many units as possible equal to the minimum between availability supply and demand. . . .

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    I'm not convinced that this would identify the right cell when there are header rows and/or columns as in the OP. Your example, for example, is talking about data, so if the table had headers I would assume it meant the top-left data cell. The more I think about it the less convinced I am that there is an answer that unambiguously identifies the correct cell, in the case with headers.
    – Rupe
    Jul 4, 2014 at 14:07
  • ...unless, of course, the answer explicitly mentions headers as @ermanen's does.
    – Rupe
    Jul 4, 2014 at 14:33
  • @Rube cell[0][0] = "⧅"
    – tchrist ♦
    Jul 4, 2014 at 14:51
2

It is called first header cell, especially in programming.

It is also mentioned in the table style element order on MSDN site.

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    Frequently the cell referred to in the question is empty, so some people may actually refer to the cell next to it as the "first header cell".
    – pacoverflow
    Jul 4, 2014 at 15:07
  • @pacoverflow: Even when it is empty, it is still called first header cell.
    – ermanen
    Jul 4, 2014 at 15:38

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