On page 228 of ‘Things to do now you’re…50’, by Robert Allen, one of the suggestions is: “Find the numerological significance of your name.” Pardon? I thought. I’ve known for as long as I can remember the etymological meaning of my name, but numerological? Then I remembered Google. My youngest daughter had said to me just a few weeks ago, ‘I don’t need your advice; I’ve got Google’, so I knew that the oracle search engine would be the place to go. I was right.

http://www.paulsadowski.com/NameData.asp

To begin with, I entered my full birth name. The numeral equivalent of all the vowels and consonants came out as 8. (How or why, I cannot say, but this website offers help: http://www.seventhlifepath.com)

So, what’s a person with a score of 8 like?

I am supposed to be materialistic, driven by money, status and power. Well that’s not true. I’d hardly be a lowly, part-time teacher, mother of five, divorced twice, if I were. So that was disappointing. But I was prepared to read on, with an open mind.

Apparently, the number 8 breaks down as follows:

A Soul Urge number of 7 means: 
‘With a number 7 Soul Urge you are very fond of reading, and retreating to periods of being alone and away from the disruptions of the outer world. You like to dream, to study and analyse, to gain knowledge and wisdom. You may be too laid back and withdrawn to really succeed in the business world, and you will be much more comfortable in circumstances that are tolerant of your reserve, your analytical approach, and your desire to use your mind rather than your physical being.’

So, is teaching the right career for me? It would suggest so.

‘You are very timid around people whom you don’t know very well, so much so at times that casual conversation and social situations can be strained. You tend to repress your emotions to the extent that some people have a good bit of difficult understanding you. You tend to be very selective with friends and you don’t easily adapt to new environments or to new people very quickly.’

I agree with the above assessment. I have a few close friends. I love conversation and debate but I’m not so good at small talk. I do bottle things up and then there’s usually a mess to clean up when I explode!

Your Inner Dream number is: 1

An Inner Dream number of 1 means: 
‘You dream of being a leader and one who is in charge. You want to be known for your courage, daring, and original ideas. You seek unconquered heights. People may get a first impression that you are very aggressive and sure of yourself.’

I dream of being someone; someone to be remembered. I dream of being known for my creative writing but I am too much of a procrastinator to realise this dream. I would be very upset if people thought I was aggressive.

Eager to find out more, I found this site: http://www.numerology.com/numerology-news/letter-name-numerology

Here, each letter or your name is analysed. Again, it’s a case of picking and choosing what you like and what you think fits you.

Having said that, when I looked at the character analysis based on the first letter of my name (the cornerstone, apparently) it was spookily accurate.

“You wear your heart on your sleeve — lucky, since you have a strong instinct about matters of the heart. You express yourself clearly and are also witty — a “life of the party” sort.”

The analysis of my capstone (last letter) eerily confirms the above.

“You believe strongly in falling in love … in fact, you may do it quite often! You are outgoing and the life of the party, but you are also very keen and a hard one to fool. You can see a situation from many different sides.”

I have indeed fallen in love often. (And married thrice!) A friend of mine once wondered whether I was addicted to wedding cake! No, but I am addicted to romance. But I blame Emily Bronte for that: I have been searching for my Heathcliff since I was 13!

My conclusion then? Did my parents know that by naming me, they were imbuing me with certain characteristics? Was it fate, or destiny? Or is it simply this: as with star signs, meanings of names are very general, and can often be made to suit our own purpose or ideas about ourselves. Still, it was all most interesting and proves that we do indeed learn something new every day.