Your name reveals a lot about who you are and what challenges you’ll face in your life. Here, we look at name numerology as it exists in the Pythagorean and Chaldean systems.
Your numerology chart describes the potentials and challenges you’ll experience in your life. It can help you prepare for the struggles you might face and take full advantage of your native talents.
Of the 5 core numbers on your numerology chart, your name plays a key role in determining 3 of them:
- Expression number
- Personality number
- Heart’s desire number (also known as the soul urge number)
Your date of birth determines your life path number and birthday number.
We’re going to focus on name numerology in this article. And to do that, we’re going to examine how to make these calculations using two systems:
- Pythagorean
- Chaldean
These are the two most common forms of numerology in the West, with Pythagorean being the one most people are familiar with.
The Pythagorean system comes from ancient Greece and follows a logical, linear structure. It can give you insight into how the stars and planets influence who you are and the challenges you face.
The Chaldean system originated in ancient Babylonia, which makes it older than the Pythagorean system. Though it fell out of favor for several centuries, it has recently seen a revival in interest. Many believe the Chaldean system offers more insight into who a person is, thanks to its use of compound numbers.
We’re going to look at how to calculate your name numerology in both systems, using an example name – Janice May Barker.
Your Name Numerology in the Pythagorean System
There are two key things you need to understand before calculating your name numerology using this system. The first is that you have to use the name given on your birth certificate.
The second is that you need to know the numbers associated with each letter in the Pythagorean system. These are as follows:
1= A, J, S
2= B, K, T
3= C, L, U
4= D, M, V
5= E, N, W
6= F, O, X
7= G, P, Y
8= H, Q, Z
9= I, R
The Pythagorean alpha-numeric system is pretty simple: A=1, B=2, C=3 etc, until you get to I=9. Then you just start over with J=1 and so on.
With that established, let’s jump right into the calculations for Janice May Barker.
Expression Number
The expression number highlights the natural talents you have in life. It also provides some insight into the challenges you may face in expressing those talents.
To find it, you reduce the full name to a single digit number. Using our example, the calculations would go like this:
JANICE
1 + 1 + 5 + 9 + 3 + 5 = 24
MAY
4 + 1 + 7 = 12
BARKER
2 + 1 + 9 + 2 + 5 + 9 = 30
Final Calculation
24 + 12 + 30 = 66
6 + 6 = 12
1 + 2 = 3
In this case, we have an expression number of 3. This suggests a creative and social person who always has a positive attitude. However, this person also has a sensitive nature, which can lead them down the path of self-doubt.
Personality Number
This number reveals the first impression that somebody will get upon meeting you. Many see this number as your mask. It denotes the aspects of your personality that you’re most ready to reveal to others. Of course, there may be a lot more that you don’t show people on first meeting.
To work out this number, we only calculate using the consonants in the subject’s name.
In our example, these are:
JNCMYBRKR
So, the calculation is as follows:
1 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 7 + 2 + 9 + 2 + 9 = 42
4 + 2 = 6
Our subject has a personality number of 6. This suggests that she is very compassionate and always tries to help people in need. Many see her as a shoulder to cry on who will always offer her support. However, her sympathy for others may leave her open to getting taken advantage of by more self-interested people.
Heart’s Desire Number
This number reveals what you truly want out of life. This makes it the “why” behind the things you do.
To calculate this number, you use the vowels in the name on your birth certificate. In our example, these are:
AIEAAE
So, the calculation goes as follows:
1 + 9 + 5 + 1 + 5 = 21
2 + 1 = 3
In this case, the subject wishes to be as creative as possible. They want to feel free to explore all of their many ideas. The good news is that this result meshes well with the example’s expression number. This person will be a wellspring of ideas, though she may struggle to control her more sensitive side.
Your Name Numerology in the Chaldean System
There are several key differences between the Pythagorean and Chaldean systems that we need to note here.
The first relates to the name you use for your numerology reading. In the Chaldean system, this is the name you’re using at the time of the reading. For example, you may go by a nickname, or shorten your given name for everyday use.
In both cases, you’ll calculate from the name you use in everyday life, rather than your birth name. This ensures you get a reading that’s accurate to who you are at this moment in time.
The second important thing is that the relationships between letters and numbers is different in this system. The Chaldean system uses the letter’s sound and vibration, rather than assigning a number in a linear order.
So, for the following calculations, we’ll use this chart:
1 = A, I, J, Q, Y
2 = B, K, R
3 = C, G, L, S
4 = D, M, T
5 = E, H, N, X
6 = U, V, W
7 = O, Z
8 = F, P
Note how the number 9 isn’t present. That’s because it’s a sacred number with deep spiritual meaning in Chaldean numerology.
There are other differences, such as the use of compound numbers. However, we won’t delve into those here.
The good news is that the three core numbers we’ll calculate still have the same purpose. So, let’s jump right into the calculations for Janice May Barker.
Expression Number
The key difference here is that you don’t break the three names up into separate calculations. Instead, you do the following:
JANICE MAY BARKER
1 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 3 + 5 + 4 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 5 + 2 = 36
3 + 6 = 9
Interestingly, our example has an expression number of 9. This means that she’s a deeply spiritual person who has great natural intuition and wisdom. She will always try to help those in need, though she may find herself giving too much.
Personality Number
For this number, we’ll pull out the consonants from the name to do the following calculation:
JNCMYBRKR
1 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 22
In this case, our example gets the master number 22 as her personality number. This is also known as the master builder number, and it suggests that Janice may achieve all she wants in life. She has a powerful personality and enormous potential. However, there is a possibility that she will struggle more than others to realize that potential.
Heart’s Desire Number
Finally, we pull the vowels from the examples name to get the heart’s desire number:
AIEAAE
1 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 5 = 14
1 + 4 = 5
Our example desires freedom above all else and will likely have a restless soul. She might enjoy traveling, possibly as part of her efforts to help other people.
Calculate Your Name Numbers Today
As you can see, each of these methods produces different results. However, neither is more valid than the other. In fact, you can use both to get a deeper insight into the forces that influence your personality.
Why not start with our numerology calculator? Use it to discover your name numbers as per the Pythagorean system.
Do you know your name numbers already? How have they affected who you are and what you do in life? Let us know below.
