In mathematics, the natural numbers are the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on, possibly excluding 0. The terms positive integers, non-negative integers, whole numbers, and counting numbers are also used. The set of the natural numbers is commonly denoted by a bold N or a blackboard bold .
The natural numbers are used for counting, and for labeling the result of a count, like "there are seven days in a week", in which case they are called cardinal numbers. They are also used to label places in an ordered series, like "the third day of the month", in which case they are called ordinal numbers. Natural numbers may also be used to label, like the jersey numbers of a sports team; in this case, they have no specific mathematical properties and are called nominal numbers.