You're right, the letter W does look more like a double V than a double U. The reason for the name "double U" has to do with the history of the letter itself.

Here's the breakdown:

* In Old English, the sound we associate with "w" wasn't represented by a single letter. Originally, they used a double U ("uu") to represent that sound.
* Later, scribes started using a special character called "wynn" which looked more like a lowercase "p" with a tail.
* After the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century, the old "uu" practice came back, but this time the two U's were joined together to create the current shape of "w."

So, even though the shape resembles a double V, the name "double U" stuck because it reflects the origin of the symbol.