Chaldean numerology: origin, table, and calculation
Chaldean numerology gives letters values from 1 to 8 and keeps the 9 apart, as a sacred number.
By Thomas Guilhot · updated
Chaldean numerology: where it comes from, what it calculates
Chaldean numerology is tied by its name to Chaldea, a region of southern Mesopotamia whose scholars, in antiquity, had a reputation for observing the sky with rigor. No document shows, however, that this table of letters goes back to that time: it is a traditional attribution, and its current form has circulated mostly since the modern era.
Its distinctive feature is its table. Letters take values from 1 to 8, and the 9 is assigned to none: it is considered a number apart, associated with the sacred, which appears only when adding. The order of the letters does not follow that of the alphabet: F counts as 8, O as 7, and U, V, W as 6. Each number is also linked to a celestial body, in the logic of ancient astrology, such as the Sun for 1 or the Moon for 2. These links vary from one author to another.
Its followers often work with the name in everyday use, the one you carry day to day, rather than the birth name. They look at the raw two-digit total before reducing it: 10, 23, or 32 each have their own meaning, and reduction is one step among others.
How it is calculated
Let’s take CLARA again with the Chaldean table. The values are 3 for C, 3 for L, 1 for A, 2 for R, then 1 for the final A. The sum is 3 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 10, which is 10 → 1 after reduction. You then read the compound number, 10, and then its reduction, 1.
With the Pythagorean table, the same first name gives 8 (3 + 3 + 1 + 9 + 1 = 17, then 1 + 7 = 8): R is worth not 2 but 9, and the gap is enough to change the reading. The number 10 is read here as a whole, with its own meaning, before being brought down to 1.
Calculate your Chaldean number
Compound numbers, from 10 to 52
The Chaldean school reads the total before reducing it. In his “Book of Numbers” (1926), Cheiro gives a symbolic title to some of these numbers and links others to a number already described. These titles are reported as they are; they make no predictions.
- 10root 1The Wheel of Fortune
- 11root 2A Clenched Hand, or the Lion Muzzled
- 12root 3The Sacrifice, or the Victim
- 13root 4The Skeleton, or Death
- 14root 5
- 15root 6
- 16root 7The Tower Struck by Lightning, or the Shattered Citadel
- 17root 8The Star of the Magi
- 18root 9
- 19root 1The Sun, or the Prince of Heaven
- 20root 2The Awakening, or the Judgement
- 21root 3The Universe, or the Crown of the Magi
- 22root 4A Good Man Blinded by the Folly of Others, with a Knapsack Full of Errors on His Back
- 23root 5The Royal Star of the Lion
- 24root 6
- 25root 7
- 26root 8
- 27root 9The Sceptre
- 28root 1
- 29root 2
- 30root 3
- 31root 4
- 32root 5
- 33root 6read as 24
- 34root 7read as 25
- 35root 8read as 26
- 36root 9read as 27
- 37root 1
- 38root 2read as 29
- 39root 3read as 30
- 40root 4read as 31
- 41root 5read as 32
- 42root 6read as 24
- 43root 7
- 44root 8read as 26
- 45root 9read as 27
- 46root 1read as 37
- 47root 2read as 29
- 48root 3read as 30
- 49root 4read as 31
- 50root 5read as 32
- 51root 6
- 52root 7read as 43
- How to readThe root is the sum of the digits, repeated until one remains.
How it differs from this site’s method
Two differences mark this school: the eight-value table, which excludes the 9 from letters, and the attention given to the compound number before reduction. This site did not keep these two choices: it uses the nine-value table and always reduces to a single digit, except for master numbers. The tool on this page lets you compare the two tables on your name. Neither system is more correct: they rest on separate conventions, each with its own internal logic, and each deserves respect.
Good to know before relying on it
Value assignments vary a little from one author to another, and the claimed antiquity remains a tradition, not an established fact. Check which table is used before comparing two results. Since the tradition passes mostly through modern books, it is better to cross-check several sources than to rely on just one.
Frequently asked questions: Chaldean numerology
Why is the 9 not in the Chaldean table?
This tradition treats the 9 as a sacred number, set apart: no letter is assigned to it. It appears only in the total. This is a rule of the school, with no equivalent in the Pythagorean table, which on the contrary gives it two letters.
What is the Chaldean numerology table?
A1 B2 C3 D4 E5 F8 G3 H5 I1 J1 K2 L3 M4 N5 O7 P8 Q1 R2 S3 T4 U6 V6 W6 X5 Y1 Z7. Some authors propose slight variants, which makes it necessary to state the version used before comparing two calculations.
Chaldean numerology: should you use the everyday name?
Many of its followers prefer the name you carry day to day, or the name chosen for signing, rather than the birth name. That is a practice of this school. This site, which follows another tradition, calculates from the birth name.
Is Chaldean numerology older than the others?
It is often said so, but nothing proves it. Sources are lacking. Its name points to Chaldea, a region of antiquity, without anyone being able to show that the current table comes from there. It is better to see it as a tradition whose origin remains uncertain.
How do you calculate your Chaldean number?
You start from the everyday name, the name used every day, and convert its letters with the Chaldean table. With MARIE: 4 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 5 = 13. This two-digit total, the compound number, is read first for itself, then reduced: 13 → 4. The tool on this page does the calculation on your name and places it next to the Pythagorean result.