Age Property

What Is the Age Property?

The Age property records the Unicode version in which a character was first assigned a code point. This property allows developers and researchers to determine which version of Unicode introduced a particular character—essential for compatibility testing, font planning, and detecting whether a string contains characters newer than a supported Unicode version.

Age values are version strings like 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, ..., 15.1. A code point that has never been assigned has an implied age of Unassigned. The property is immutable: a character's Age never changes once assigned, even if its properties (name, category) are later corrected.

Checking Age in Python

Python's unicodedata module does not expose Age directly, but the unicodedata.unidata_version string tells you which Unicode version the module implements. To check a character's introduction version you can use the unicodedata module's character lookup or a third-party library:

import unicodedata
import sys

# The Unicode version Python's unicodedata module implements
print(unicodedata.unidata_version)   # e.g., "15.1.0"
print(sys.version)

# For Age lookups, use the 'unicodedata2' or 'unicodedataplus' package
# pip install unicodedataplus
try:
    import unicodedataplus as udp
    for char in ["A", "€", "😀", "\U0001F600"]:
        age = udp.age(char)
        name = unicodedata.name(char, "<unnamed>")
        print(f"  U+{ord(char):04X}  Age={age:6}  {name}")
except ImportError:
    print("Install unicodedataplus for Age support")

# U+0041  Age=1.1    LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A
# U+20AC  Age=2.1    EURO SIGN
# U+1F600 Age=6.1    GRINNING FACE

Why Age Matters

Emoji support timelines: Emoji characters have been added across many Unicode versions. Age tells you whether a character requires Unicode 6.0+ (face emoji), 8.0+ (skin tone modifiers), or 13.0+ (newer additions). Mobile operating systems typically lag Unicode releases by 12–24 months.

Legacy system compatibility: A database or file format limited to Unicode 3.0 cannot store CJK Extension B characters (added in 4.1) or any emoji. Age detection lets you validate input against a maximum supported version.

Font auditing: Font engineers use Age to prioritize glyph development—newer characters with high Age values may not yet be covered by commonly deployed fonts.

Notable Age Milestones

Quick Facts