Currencies

Symbol	Country	Currency	Nickname
USD	United States	Dollar	Buck
EUR	Euro zone members	Euro	Fiber
JPY	Japan	Yen	Yen
GBP	Great Britain	Pound	Cable
CHF	Switzerland	Franc	Swissy
CAD	Canada	Dollar	Loonie
AUD	Australia	Dollar	Aussie
NZD	New Zealand	Dollar	Kiwi

Currency symbols always have three letters, where the first two letters identify the name of the country and the third letter identifies the name of that country's currency.

Take USD for instance. US stands for United State, while D stands for dollar. Easy enough, right?

The currencies included in the chart above are called the "majors" because they are the most widely traded ones.

Forex Trading is in pairs

When you trade in the forex market, you buy or sell in currency pairs.

Forex trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling another. Currencies are traded through a broker or dealer, and are traded in pairs; for example the euro and the U.S. dollar (EUR/USD) or the British pound and the Japanese yen (GBP/JPY).

Major Currency Pairs

The currency pairs listed below are considered the "majors". These pairs all contain the U.S. dollar (USD) on one side and are the most frequently traded. The majors are the most liquid and widely traded currency pairs in the world.

Pair	Countries	FX Geek Speak
EUR/USD	Euro zone / United States	"euro dollar"
USD/JPY	United States / Japan	"dollar yen"
GBP/USD	United Kindom / United States	"pound dollar"
USD/CHF	United States/ Switzerland	"dollar swissy"
USD/CAD	United States / Canada	"dollar loonie"
AUD/USD	Australia / United States	"aussie dollar"
NZD/USD	New Zealand / United States	"kiwi dollar"

Major Cross-Currency Pairs or Minor Currency Pairs

Currency pairs that don't contain the U.S. dollar (USD) are known as cross-currency pairs or simply as the "crosses." Major crosses are also known as "minors." The most actively traded crosses are derived from the three major non-USD currencies: EUR, JPY, and GBP.

Euro Crosses

Pair	Countries	FX Geek Speak
EUR/CHF	Euro zone / Switzerland	"euro swissy"
EUR/GBP	Euro zone / United Kingdom	"euro pound"
EUR/CAD	Euro zone / Canada	"euro loonie"
EUR/AUD	Euro zone / Australia	"euro aussie"
EUR/NZD	Euro zone / New Zealand	"euro kiwi"

Yen Crosses

Pair	Countries	FX Geek Speak
EUR/JPY	Euro zone / Japan	"euro yen" or "yuppy"
GBP/JPY	United Kingdom / Japan	"pound yen" or "guppy"
CHF/JPY	Switzerland / Japan	"swissy yen"
CAD/JPY	Canada / Japan	"loonie yen"
AUD/JPY	Australia / Japan	"aussie yen"
NZD/JPY	New Zealand / Japan	"kiwi yen"

Pound Crosses

Pair	Countries	FX Geek Speak
GBP/CHF	United Kingdom / Switzerland	"pound swissy"
GBP/AUD	United Kingdom / Australia	"pound aussie"
GBP/CAD	United Kingdom / Canada	"pound loonie"
GBP/NZD	United Kingdom / New Zealand	"pound kiwi"

Other Crosses

Pair	Countries	FX Geek Speak
AUD/CHF	Australia / Switzerland	"aussie swissy"
AUD/CAD	Australia / Canada	"aussie loonie"
AUD/NZD	Australia / New Zealand	"aussie kiwi"
CAD/CHF	Canada / Switzerland	"loonie swissy"
NZD/CHF	New Zealand / Switzerland	"kiwi swissy"
NZD/CAD	New Zealand / Canada	"kiwi loonie"