Name number and compound numbers

The name number (नामांक) is the total of the values of every letter in a name, reduced to one digit, and the compound number is that total before reduction. Together they describe the impression a name creates and how it sits with the numbers from your date of birth.

How are letters turned into numbers?

Using the Chaldean table (lesson 2), each letter gets a value from 1 to 8. Add the values of every letter, ignoring spaces, dots and hyphens. That total is the compound number; its reduction is the name number.

Value	Letters
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

No letter is given 9, which Chaldean tradition held sacred. A repeated letter counts every time it appears, so the two As in SHARMA add 1 each. Before adding, the calculator turns the name into capital letters, drops accents (É becomes E) and removes dots, hyphens, apostrophes and commas. Any other character, including a digit or a Devanagari letter, is not accepted.

Worked example

RAHUL SHARMA in Chaldean:

• RAHUL: R2 + A1 + H5 + U6 + L3 = 17 → 8
• SHARMA: S3 + H5 + A1 + R2 + M4 + A1 = 16 → 7
• Whole name: 17 + 16 = 33 → 6

The name number is 6 (Venus). Because the whole total lands exactly on 33, the card does two extra things. It shows the Chaldean reading of compound 33, and it adds a master-number note saying that 33 still reduces to 6, so the 6 meaning comes first. The master note depends only on the total, not on the letter system, and it follows the rule explained in lesson 9.

The per-word totals, 17 and 8 for RAHUL and 16 and 7 for SHARMA, appear in the card's letter breakdown. They are useful for seeing which part of a name carries which number, but the name number comes from the whole name.

What does the compound number add?

In Chaldean practice each compound number from 10 upward has its own short description, and practitioners read it as the texture behind the single digit. Two names can both reduce to 6 and have compound numbers 15 and 33, which are read differently. This site shows the compound number on every name and Bhagyank result with its Chaldean reading, after Cheiro's classic list of 10 to 52. A total above 52 is read by its digit sum (65 → 11), and a single-digit total has no compound reading.

Some compound readings repeat earlier ones by tradition. In Cheiro's list 33 is read like 24, and 34 like 25, so the card for RAHUL SHARMA shows the same title as a name totalling 24. Each reading on the card is a few sentences long and phrased as a tendency to work with. Read it after the single-digit meaning, never instead of it.

A second example

ANANYA KRISHNAMURTHY in Chaldean:

• ANANYA: A1 + N5 + A1 + N5 + Y1 + A1 = 14 → 5
• KRISHNAMURTHY: K2 + R2 + I1 + S3 + H5 + N5 + A1 + M4 + U6 + R2 + T4 + H5 + Y1 = 41 → 5
• Whole name: 14 + 41 = 55 → 10 → 1

The name number is 1 (Sun). The total 55 is above 52, so the compound reading comes from its digit sum, 5 + 5 = 10, and the card notes "Totals above 52 are read by their digit sum: 55 → 10." No master note appears, because 55 is not 11, 22 or 33.

Long names often pass 52, especially with a long surname. That is not a problem; the digit-sum rule simply brings the total back into the range the Chaldean list covers.

Comparing the name with the birth numbers

Add your date of birth on the name calculator and it shows two relations: name number against Moolank and name number against Bhagyank, from the same friendly and opposing table used everywhere on the site. Each relation is read from the birth number's row, because the question is how your birth number receives the name.

Relation	Read as
Friendly	The name supports the birth numbers.
Neutral	The name neither helps nor hinders.
Opposing	The name adds friction with the birth numbers.

For RAHUL SHARMA born 14 August 1990 (Moolank 5, Bhagyank 5): 5 lists 6 as friendly, so the name number 6 is friendly to both. A supportive name, in this reading.

For ANANYA KRISHNAMURTHY born 20 July 1996 (Moolank 2, Bhagyank 7, worked out in lesson 7): 2's row lists 1 as friendly and so does 7's row, so both badges read Friendly. Read the other way, 1's row lists 2 as friendly but 7 only as neutral. The card does not show that reverse view, which is one more reason to know the full table.

Where do schools disagree?

• Chaldean or Pythagorean. Indian practice mostly uses Chaldean, and this site defaults to it. In Pythagorean values RAHUL SHARMA is R9 + A1 + H8 + U3 + L3 = 24 and S1 + H8 + A1 + R9 + M4 + A1 = 24, so 48 → 12 → 3, not 6. Neither is wrong; they are different systems, compared in lesson 2.
• Which name. Some read the full name on the birth certificate, others the name a person signs and answers to. Many practitioners look at both and give more weight to the one in daily use.
• Master numbers. Pythagorean practice gives 11, 22 and 33 special weight; Chaldean practice mostly reads them as compounds. This site does both: the compound reading always, and a master note when the whole total is exactly 11, 22 or 33.
• Totals above 52. Cheiro's list stops at 52. This site reads a larger total by its digit sum; other practitioners reduce straight to the single digit and give no compound reading.

Common mistakes

• Mixing systems by accident. Many online charts use Pythagorean values (A = 1 through I = 9, then repeating). Taking a letter from one table and the rest from the other gives a meaningless total.
• Including titles. Writing "Dr" or "Mr" adds letters, and DR alone adds 4 + 2 = 6 in Chaldean. Leave titles out unless you always use them as part of your name.
• Typing in Devanagari. Both tables are defined for A to Z, so write the name in its usual English spelling.
• Reading the compound alone. The single digit leads; the compound adds texture.
• Treating a relation badge as a verdict. An opposing badge describes friction in this tradition, nothing more.

The other way a name meets a birth

Jyotish matches a name to a birth differently: by the first syllable of the birth nakshatra's pada, listed in the nakshatra lesson of the astrology course. Many families use both, the syllable to choose a name and the number to choose its spelling.

A word on name changes

The name number is the only personal number you can change, which is why spelling changes are so popular. A single letter moves the total; adding one A, for instance, raises it by 1. This course describes how a name is read and stops there. Nothing here recommends a change, and no change promises a result.

Calculate yours

Try the calculator this lesson explains.

Full name

English letters only, for example Rahul Sharma

Letter system

Chaldean (Indian)Pythagorean (Western)

Date of birth (optional, for the match with your numbers)

Day

Month

Year

For example 14 08 1990 · Remembered on this device only, never sent anywhere.

Calculate