BodyCervical bodies are small: they carry the least weight in the column.
Vertebral foramenThe spinal cord runs through it.
PedicleEach pedicle forms a side of the vertebral arch.
LaminaThe two laminae meet in the midline at the spinous process.
Transverse processIn the neck each is curved to let a spinal nerve pass.
Transverse foramenOnly neck vertebrae have it; an artery to the brain runs through.
Superior articular processIt meets the vertebra above; in the neck its surface is flat.
Spinous processIn C3 to C6 it is short and split in two (bifid).
Atlas and axis 3
Anterior archThe atlas has no body; the dens sits against this arch.
Posterior archThe atlas has no spinous process; this arch closes the ring behind.
DensThe atlas turns around it when you shake your head no.
The whole neck 3
Atlas (C1)Named after Atlas, who held up the heavens.
Axis (C2)The head turns on it, which gives it its name.
C7Its long spine is the bump at the base of the neck.
How this list was compiled: Every name and detail checked on 2026-09-29 against OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 7.3 The Vertebral Column (body, vertebral arch, pedicles, laminae, vertebral foramen, transverse and spinous processes, superior articular processes; cervical vertebrae with bifid spinous processes and transverse foramina; the atlas with anterior and posterior arches and no body or spinous process; the axis and its dens; the long C7 spine), https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/7-3-the-vertebral-column, and against Wikipedia, Cervical vertebrae, text only. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-04 by script. The vertebra from above follows the figure of a cervical vertebra from above in Johannes Sobotta, Atlas and Text-book of Human Anatomy, 1909 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sobo_1909_5.png, public domain), made symmetrical. The atlas follows figure 86 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray86.png) and the axis figure 88, mirrored (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray88.png), of Henry Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body, 20th US edition, 1918, drawn by Henry Vandyke Carter (public domain). The side view of the neck is our own, built on the same axis outline and on the proportions of figures 85 and 111 of the same book. Licence: own work
How it works
The top drawing is the fifth cervical vertebra, C5, from above, as on a lab model. Below it are the first two neck bones, the atlas and the axis, and then all seven from the side.
Read the full guide
C5 first, then the two special ones
Numbers 1 to 8 are on C5: the body, the opening for the spinal cord, the pedicles and laminae of the arch, the side wings with their holes, the joint surfaces and the forked spine. Numbers 9 to 11 are the atlas arches and the dens of the axis. Numbers 12 to 14 place the atlas, the axis and C7 in the neck.
Only neck vertebrae have a hole in each transverse process. If you see one, it is cervical.
Questions and answers
How many cervical vertebrae are there?
Seven, C1 to C7, from the base of the skull down to the top of the chest. C1 is the atlas, C2 is the axis, and C7 has the long spine you can feel at the base of the neck.
How is a cervical vertebra different from other vertebrae?
It has a small body, a hole called a transverse foramen in each transverse process, and usually a forked (bifid) spinous process. An artery to the brain runs up through the transverse foramina.
What is the difference between the atlas and the axis?
The atlas, C1, is a ring with an anterior and a posterior arch and no body; it holds up the skull. The axis, C2, has a peg called the dens that the atlas turns around.