[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.

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.

In the 1970s –1990s, most scientific calculators offered the gon (gradian), as well as radians and degrees, for their trigonometric functions.

[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."