Name Gematria
Discover how to calculate and interpret the gematria of Hebrew names and their spiritual significance.
The Significance of Names in Judaism
In Jewish tradition, a name is not merely a label — it is a window into a person's essence and spiritual mission. The Talmud teaches that parents receive a minor form of prophecy when naming a child, encoding the soul's purpose into the name itself.
Calculating the gematria of a name can reveal connections to Torah verses, divine attributes, or other names — all of which shed light on the name-bearer's deeper identity.
Famous Name Examples
משה (Moshe — Moses) = 345
345 is the same value as השם (HaShem — The Name), suggesting Moses was uniquely connected to the divine. It also equals שמו (Shmo — His name), a self-referential gematria.
אברהם (Avraham — Abraham) = 248
248 corresponds to the 248 positive commandments in the Torah and the 248 limbs of the human body — reflecting Abraham as the embodiment of the full mitzvot.
דוד (David) = 14
14 corresponds to יד (Yad — Hand), symbolizing David's kingship as the hand of God in the world. Fourteen also appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, which is structured around this gematria.
How to Calculate Your Name's Gematria
To find the gematria of a Hebrew name, write the name in Hebrew characters, assign each letter its standard value (Mispar Hechrachi), and sum them. If your name is typically spelled in another language, first transliterate it to Hebrew using standard conventions.
- Write your name in Hebrew script.
- Look up each letter's value in the standard table (Aleph=1, Bet=2 … Tav=400).
- Add all values together to get the total gematria.
- Search for Torah words or verses with the same value to find connections.
Connecting Names to Torah Verses
A traditional practice is to find a verse in the Torah whose total gematria matches your name, or that begins and ends with the first and last letters of your name. This verse is considered your personal verse (Pasuk) and can be recited at the end of the Amidah prayer.
This practice grounds the abstract numerology in lived Jewish observance, connecting personal identity to scripture.