The Numerology of Names

In numerology, the letters of your name convert into numbers that reveal core aspects of your character and destiny. Your name, alongside your birth date, is a primary source of your numerological profile.

Letters Into Numbers

Numerology assigns each letter a number, most commonly by the Pythagorean system where A is 1, B is 2, and so on through to 9 before repeating. Summing and reducing the numbers of your full birth name yields several core figures, chief among them the Expression or Destiny number. This number describes your natural talents, abilities and the path you are here to walk. Your name, in this view, is not arbitrary but a code carrying meaning.

What Your Name Reveals

Different parts of the name yield different insights. The full name gives the Expression number of your overall potential; the vowels give the Soul Urge of your inner desires; the consonants give the Personality number others perceive. Together they form a portrait of who you are within, who you appear to be, and what you can become. This is why numerologists ask for the complete name exactly as given at birth.

Names and Change

Because names carry numerical energy, changing a name is thought to shift one's vibration — a reason some people adopt new names or spellings deliberately. A marriage name, stage name or chosen name adds its own influence atop the birth name's foundation. The original birth name is usually considered the deepest layer, with later names modifying rather than erasing it. Exploring the numbers of any name you use can reveal the energy you are carrying under it.