# Another polygon question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750 "2025-09-04T16:23:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/1 "2025-09-04T16:23:00Z")
Many of the smaller common and even not so common polygons have (Greek?) names that describe them. But if you “invent” a new polygon do you get to name it? Obviously you don’t really invent a polygon since all of them exist, but you might find a use for a particular polygon that no paid any attention to or bothered to name. Lets say you find a need for a part with 360 sides. Can this be described in classic numerical terminology? What if the sides alternate between lengths of 1 and 1.5 units? Can you call it a “double 180 duplex Schmitken” if you want? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/2 "2025-09-04T16:36:28Z")
The name of a polygon is based on the Greek ordinal for the number of sides. You could name it whatever you want but I presume the rest of the world would use the standard name for it. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/3 "2025-09-04T16:55:52Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Lets say you find a need for a part with 360 sides. Can this be described in classic numerical terminology? Hecatohexacontahedron Stranger ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/4 "2025-09-04T19:01:49Z")
Some specific polygons have been given names by their discoverers which have seen wide use. For example, two recently discovered [Einstein tiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_problem) were called the hat and the spectre by their creators, and those names have stuck. (The spectre has curved sides so isn’t strictly a polygon.) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/5 "2025-09-04T20:17:22Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Hecatohexacontahedron -gon, not -hedron. But to answer the OP, if I had need of it, I would call it simply a 360-gon. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/6 "2025-09-04T20:49:58Z")
I’d agree to calling a heptadecagon a “gaussagon” instead. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/7 "2025-09-04T22:02:37Z")
I guess a Fullerene works in 3 dimensions.. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/8 "2025-09-06T13:34:47Z")
A polygon with n sides can always be called an n-gon, so in that sense, every polygon has a name. But for any given number of sides, there are an infinite number of possible distinct shapes, and if you find some particular, specific shape (with specific angles and side lengths) that has some relevance to something, you can still name that specific shape. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-polygon-question/1022750/9 "2025-09-06T17:17:15Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Hecatohexacontahedron Such a lovely name. Can you break it down? I can’t see anything that means “3”