[12] The chance of confusion was one reason for the adoption of the term Celsius to replace centigrade as the name of the temperature scale.

[13][14] Gradians (Gons) are principally used in surveying (especially in Europe),[15][7][16] and to a lesser extent in mining[17] and geology.

Due to confusion with the existing term grad(e) in some northern European countries (meaning a standard degree, ⁠1/360⁠ of a turn), the name gon was later adopted, first in those regions, and later as the international standard.[which?]

Although attempts at a general introduction were made, the unit was only adopted in some countries, and for specialised areas such as surveying,[15][7][16] mining[17] and geology.

[needs update] Other symbols used in the past include "gr", "grd", and "g", the last sometimes written as a superscript, similarly to a degree sign: 50g = 45°.

The EU directive on the units of measurement[20]: 9–10  notes that the gradian "does not appear in the lists drawn up by the CGPM, CIPM or BIPM."