What is an expression number in numerology?
An expression number is the number your full birth name adds up to in numerology. Each letter gets a value from 1 to 9, A being 1 and J being 1 again, and the total is reduced. The vowels alone give the soul urge number, the consonants alone the personality number.
From letters to numbers
In the usual Pythagorean chart the alphabet is written out in rows of nine: A to I are 1 to 9, J to R are 1 to 9 again, S to Z are 1 to 8. Add the values of every letter in a name and reduce the total, and you have the expression number, sometimes called the destiny or name number. Numerologists use the full name on the birth certificate. 1,2
Two related numbers come from the same name. The soul urge, or heart's desire, totals only the vowels; the personality number totals only the consonants. The usual reading is that the vowels are what you want inside and the consonants are what people see first.
Older than numerology
Reading words through number values is ancient. In Hebrew the letters double as numerals, and gematria reads a word through the total of its letters. Greek letters had number values too: Suetonius quotes a verse mocking Nero because his name in Greek totals the same as a phrase accusing him of killing his mother. 3,4
The A-is-1 chart in cycles of nine is modern. It appears in Balliett's books in the early 1900s, which give every letter a value so names can be reduced alongside birth dates. 2
How the machine works it out
Calculated facts only, worked out the same way the machine does it.
- Letter values: A, J, S = 1; B, K, T = 2; C, L, U = 3; D, M, V = 4; E, N, W = 5; F, O, X = 6; G, P, Y = 7; H, Q, Z = 8; I, R = 9.
- Expression: all the letters of the name. Soul urge: the vowels. Personality: the consonants. Each total is reduced, keeping 11, 22 and 33.
- It needs Latin letters, so names written in other scripts get no name numbers on the card.
Where the idea comes from
Era by era, with sources. More in the Reading Room.
- AncientAntiquityHebrew and Greek letters double as numerals, and readers find meaning in the totals of names. 3
- Classical1st century CEA Roman verse mocks Nero through the number value of his Greek name. 4
- 1900s1908L. Dow Balliett gives letters values in cycles of nine and compares name and birth numbers. 2
Common misconceptions
“The expression number uses your current name.” Most numerologists use the full birth name, and read a married or chosen name as a second layer. 1
“Gematria and numerology are the same thing.” Gematria is a Hebrew interpretive tradition with its own letter values; modern name numerology uses an A-is-1 chart. 3,2
Questions people ask
Is Y a vowel?
Systems differ. Many count Y as a vowel when it sounds like one, as in Lynn. The machine counts only A, E, I, O and U.
Does a nickname count?
Most numerologists use the full birth name for the expression number. 1
What is the difference between expression and life path?
Life path comes from the birth date, expression from the name.
Sources
- Your Expression Number, Numerology.com (practitioner site). Read on .
- The philosophy of numbers; their tone and colors (Mrs. L. Dow Balliett, 1908), Internet Archive (Cornell University Library scan). Read on .
- Gemaṭria, Jewish Encyclopedia (Solomon Schechter and Caspar Levias). Read on .
- Suetonius, Life of Nero, chapter 39 and note 125, LacusCurtius, University of Chicago (Suetonius, trans. J. C. Rolfe, Loeb edition). Read on .