At a glance
- Identification point
- An English cyclic table is a modern convention, not proof of ancient continuity.
Definition and identification
The label invokes the ancient Pythagorean interest in number and proportion, but an English name table is not an ancient Greek alphabet. Modern practice reduces names or dates to numbers and assigns themes. Ancient philosophy, modern published rules and present interpretation are separate objects of study; sharing a name does not make them one continuous system.
Structure and reading rules
A common table gives A through I values one through nine, repeats this for J through R, and assigns S through Z one through eight. Values are summed and reduced under a declared rule. Master-number exceptions, accents, hyphens and transliteration require additional choices; software should not silently choose a spelling and call its result the name’s unique natural number.
Concrete example
For the fictional name LEO, L is three, E five and O six: the total is fourteen, reduced to five. Retaining both total and reduced value allows checking. A table assigning O seven changes the result. The example demonstrates dependence on a convention, not a measurable vibration of the name or a determination of character.
Historical context and limits
The Library of Congress records Balliett’s 1908 numerological work, and Coffman documents modern name and date methods. These establish publication history, while claims about destiny remain the authors’ position. Ancient proportional reasoning does not validate present name predictions. Study can reproduce rules and compare texts without using numbers to determine education, work or a person’s worth.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- Library of Congress, L. Dow Balliett, The Philosophy of Numbers (1908)Primary / tradition source
Catalogue and scan of the 1908 edition, evidence for modern numerology rather than continuous ancient transmission.
- C. J. Coffman, Manual of the Enumeration (1927)Primary / tradition source
Modern primary manual of name and birth-date number methods; terminology differs across later schools.