Baby Name Numerology: Number Names Count!

Baby name numerology holds that every letter of every name counts toward its significance, but number names count more than most.

Numerical names can reflect a child’s place in the birth order — if I somehow had eight children I’d definitely consider Octavia for the youngest — or the day or month they were born, or a number that’s meaningful to you.

It might even be a spur-of-the-moment decision, as with Roald Dahl’s daughter Olivia Twenty, who was named for a $20 note in Dahl’s pocket (that, and her birthday on April 20).

In some countries you can put a numeral in your child’s name, like the Samoan child named after a rugby score: Wales Manu Samoa 9-34 Moamoa Gale. But in many places it’s not allowed, so number names have to be spelled out.

You could also consider baby name numerology, where the letters in a name add up to a significant number. Even if you don’t set much store by it, it could help if you need a tiebreaker between spellings. We recommend the numerology series of posts on Nancy’s Baby Names, calculating the value of hundreds of popular names so you don’t have to.

Here, we round up the options for number names from around the world, with spotlights on a few special categories.

English Number Names

These are a special kind of word names. In theory you could use any number, but the names below have been used (at least once) in real life.

Five — Interior designers Robert and Cortney Novogratz named their fifth child Five Beck (technically joint fifth, as he has a twin brother named Holleder).

Seven — Seven was already rising for both sexes when David Beckham named his daughter Harper Seven in 2011, after his football shirt number.

Nine — British footballer Andy Carroll took a leaf out of Beckham’s book and named his son Wolf Nine.

Eleven — Millie Bobby Brown's character in Stranger Things suddenly made this number feel namelike. It has appeared on the charts for both sexes, but time will tell if it's a brief blip, or here to stay. The Swedish word for eleven, Elva, is even more namelike.

Million — Climbing fast for boys, in keeping with the aspirational style of names that includes Royal and Lux. Parents are also using Billion, Trillion, and Amillion.

International Number Names

Number names are plentiful in world languages and cultures. You can use number names the way they were used originally, to designate birth order, or for some other significance. For this reason, it's no surprise that one is the most common numerical name!

Or you can consider the meaning of the name a fascinating sidelight.

Here, from 1 to 10, a range of number names from around the world, with their meanings.

Names Meaning 1 or First

Ensio — Finnish, from the word for “first”.

Hana — “One” in Korean, and a popular Anglo-Korean crossover.

Ichiro — Japanese, "first son".

Ilkin — “First” in Turkish and Azerbaijani.

Kensa — “First” in Cornish

Mona — One root of this international name is the Greek word for “one”.

Mosi — “First child” in Swahili.

Parvan — From the Bulgarian word for “first”.

Primo / Prima — “First” in Latin; this is the first part of Primrose.

Proteus — A Greek sea god, from a word meaning “first”.

Una — One possible origin is “one” in Latin.

Winona — “Firstborn daughter” in Dakota.

Names Meaning 2 or Second

Deuce — Gaming term for the number two.

Jiro — Japanese, "second son"

Malachy — Believe it or not, this Irish name may derive by a tenuous route from the Latin Secundus, meaning “second”.

Nessa — “Second” in Cornish.

Segundo — “Second” in Spanish.

Twain — Archaic word for two, and adopted as a pen name by Samuel Clemens from a river boatmen's call.

Names Meaning 3 or Third

Saburo — Japanese, "third son"

Terza — “Third” in Italian.

Trace, Trey, Tripp — Nicknames for a third namesake (the child of a junior), which are sometimes used as first names in their own right.

Tressa — “Third” in Cornish.

Trinity — A three name with religious significance. International variants include Trinidad, Troian, and Hirune.

Names Meaning 4 or Fourth

Ivy — Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s clever adaptation of the Roman numerals IV

Quade — An Irish surname that is also associated with the Latin word for “fourth”.

Rabia — From Arabic Raabi’a, “fourth” (the Muslim saint Rabia of Basra was a fourth daughter).

Shiro — Japanese, "fourth son".

Names Meaning 5 or Fifth

Goro — Japanese, "fifth son"

Quentin — one of several names from the Latin for “fifth”; others include Quintus, Quintessa, and (from other dialects) Pompey and Pontius. Stem-cell scientist George Q. Daley’s middle name is Quentin: he’s a fifth sibling.

Quinn — A false friend from non-numerical Irish roots, but it’s enough of a soundalike to count as a number name, if you like.

Names Meaning 6 or Sixth

Rokuro — Japanese, "sixth son".

Sia — “Six” in Scottish Gaelic.

Sixten — A false friend, from Scandinavian origins.

Sixtus and Sixtine — These are possibly more false friends, but have been connected with the number six for centuries, at least since the sixth Pope, Sixtus. The British Member of Parliament Jacob Rees-Mogg used it for his sixth child.

Names Meaning 7, 8, 9, and 10

Nanaka — Japanese, "seven" + "summer". While most Japanese number names (as you may have noticed) are for sons, there are several female and unisex ones with the character for seven. Others include Nanako, meaning "seven" + "rainbow", and Nanami, meaning "seven" + "sea". Thanks to the blog Beyond Sakura and Hiroshi for the info on number seven names.

Septimus and Septima — “Seventh” in Latin.

Octavia and Octavius — “Eighth” in Latin, with derivatives including Octavian, Tavian, and Ottavia.

Otto — By coincidence, this Germanic name also means “eight” in Italian.

Kuro — Japanese, "ninth son".

Nona — “Nine” in Latin and the Roman goddess of pregnancy.T

Tara — “Nine” Hausa, among this name’s many roots.

Decima and Decimus — “Tenth” in Latin. A more modern Spanish/Italian variant is Decio.

Dixie — Possibly from a nickname for a ten-dollar bill. A controversial choice, but it sits right on the edge of the Top 1000.

Juro — Japanese, "tenth son".

Letter Names as Numbers

It’s the numerology principle again: you could use a letter to represent the number of its position in the alphabet, like Delta for a fourth child.

Alpha — first letter (Greek). The Turkish version, Elif, is one of the most popular girl names in Turkey.

Beta — second letter (Greek), or Bea in English, or Beth / Bet in Hebrew

Delta — fourth letter (Greek), or Dee in English

Zeta — sixth letter (Greek)

Eta — seventh letter (Greek)

Theta — eighth letter (Greek)

Jay — J, tenth letter

Kay — K, eleventh letter

Elle — L, twelfth letter

Emme — M, thirteenth letter

Omega — The 24th and last letter in the Greek alphabet, and a modern Christian name that is currently in style. Any name starting with Z would also be a subtle way to mark a final child.

Names Meaning Last

Naming a last baby brings its own challenges. If you’re sure the shop is closed after this child, you could reflect that in the meaning of their name. Besides Omega, there are…

Anele — Zulu, “enough”, or, figuratively, “last born”.

Canute / Knut / Knute — Meaning “knot”, which symbolizes ending and closing.

Coda — The final section of a piece of music.

Soner — Turkish, “the last”.

Ultima and Ultimus — Latin, “last”.

Looking for more? Read our full list of Number Names.