Translating names to numbers

The process of translating words to numbers is central to numerology. The practice has roots in Greek, Latin and Hebrew gematria, or the practice of turning words into numbers for the purpose of divination. People have used gematria to study and interpret the Torah, the Bible and other religious texts.

Most of the time, numerologists focus on people's names, using a simple chart to change names into numbers. Different numerology systems use different charts, but an easy one begins with "a" equaling 1, "b" equaling 2 and so forth.

How numerology works
Numerologists typically use the name a person received at birth. Some argue that unborn babies select their names themselves and communicate them to their parents psychically, making sure their name will suit them and yield the correct number. According to numerologists, the name a person receives at birth is more significant than nicknames, names taken upon marriage, or otherwise changed names.

To determine a person's number, the numerologist picks the corresponding numbers from the chart and adds them together. If the result has two or more digits, the numerologist will add those digits together, repeating that step until arriving at a single digit.
For example:

Name Harry James Potter in numbers
The total for the name "Harry" is 34, "James" is 12, and "Potter" is 31, for a total of 77. In some systems, the number 77 might be a master number, but most would add the two digits together for a total of 14, and then add one and four for a total of 5.

The Number of the Beast
The technique used to determine a person's number has also been used to associate people's names with the number of the beast, or 666, which appeared in the book of Revelation. Many people associate this number with the end of the world or the devil, although with enough tweaking it's possible to make virtually anyone's name total 666.