Isopsephy
The ancient Greek counterpart to Hebrew gematria — adding up the number values of the letters in a word. Its name means "equal pebbles," after the counters used for reckoning.
Isopsephy is the Greek practice of summing the numerical values of the letters in a word or name. The term comes from isos ("equal") and psephos ("pebble" — the small stones used for counting and voting), and the technique runs throughout classical Greek and early Christian writing. It is the direct sibling of Hebrew gematria, built on exactly the same idea that letters are also numbers.
In the Greek system each letter carries a value: Alpha = 1, Beta = 2, on through Iota = 10, then in tens and hundreds (Kappa = 20, Rho = 100, and so on). The letters of a word are added to a single total, which can then be set beside other words that share the same value to reveal a hidden link.
The most famous piece of isopsephy in Western culture is the "number of the beast," 666, in Revelation 13:18, where the text explicitly invites the reader to "calculate the number" of a name. Many scholars decode it through the letter-values of "Nero Caesar." Isopsephy matters historically because it shows that the Greeks — including the Pythagorean school that gave the West its numerology — treated letters and numbers as one unified system.
How to calculate
Assign each Greek letter its value (Alpha=1, Beta=2 … Iota=10, Kappa=20 … Rho=100, Sigma=200 …). Sum the letters of a word or name to a single total, then compare it with the totals of other words to find equal-value relationships.
Related terms
Gematria
The ancient Hebrew practice of assigning number values to letters, so that words sharing t…
Pythagorean Numerology
The most widely used system of numerology in the Western world — assigns letters numerical…
Kabbalistic Numerology
A mystical name-based system derived from Jewish Kabbalah, built on the Tree of Life — ten…
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