Daily AncestorAlpha and Omega
Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, stand on gravestones for God, the beginning and the end of all things.
The letters come from the Bible's I am the Alpha and the Omega. On a gravestone they usually appear on either side of a cross, a crown or a chi-rho, and they stand for God or Christ.
They are religious lettering, not the initials of the person buried there. The capital omega looks like a horseshoe or an upside-down U, which can puzzle a first-time reader.
As seen in a recordLutheran, Episcopal or Catholic cemetery, 1860 to 1940
Cross with A and Ω on either side: Anna Maria Kessler, 1852 to 1916
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Alpha and Omega." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/gravestone-symbols/alpha-and-omega. Last checked 2026-10-15.