Name numerology

Which name counts

Tradition says the full name on your birth certificate, middle names included. That is the name used for the Expression number, on the reasoning that it was given before you had any say in it.

A married name, a chosen name or a professional pseudonym is read as a second influence layered on top — not a replacement. People who change their name are said to acquire the new numbers without losing the old ones, which is convenient for the tradition and impossible to test.

Business names

The same calculation is applied to company names, using the Expression number alone — a business has no private motivation, so Soul Urge is not read. Practitioners favor 1, 5 and 8 for commercial ventures, on the grounds that they describe initiative, adaptability and material authority respectively.

Why the two systems disagree

Pythagorean assigns values in alphabetical order and uses 1 to 9. Chaldean assigns them by sound, in an order that looks arbitrary until you notice it groups letters by how they are voiced — and it never uses 9 at all. Run the same name through both and the numbers differ, often substantially.

Neither can be shown to be more correct. Pick one, understand that the other exists, and be suspicious of anyone who insists their table is the real one.