Each letter of the alphabet corresponds to a number. To find the meaning of a name, its numbers are added together. If the total has more than two digits, the individual digits are added together, and so on, until the number is reduced to a single digit. This same method is applied to dates.

Numbers can be found everywhere, since just about everything is either named, numbered, or both. In determining personality, some numerologists believe that only the full name at birth is really important, but others think you can change your destiny by changing your name. Some people actually have changed their names, or the way they spelled their names, in order to change their numerological interpretation so that they could develop a better personality and destiny.