By Birth Date
In numerology, birth date compatibility is calculated from both partners' Life Path Numbers: each date is reduced to a single digit, and the difference between the two numbers gives the score. The calculator above does this for you.
How it's calculated
Three steps for each date.
- Reduce the day, month and year separately: 14 → 5, February → 2, 1988 → 26 → 8.
- Add the results: 5 + 2 + 8 = 15 → 6. This is the Life Path Number.
- Repeat for the second date and compare the numbers.
The score comes from the distance between the numbers on a circle from 1 to 9. On the circle, 9 and 1 stand side by side, and a difference greater than 4 is counted the other way around: the distance between 2 and 7 is not 5 but 4. A match and a distance of 4 count as harmonious, a distance of 1 as the most tense.
Worked Example
February 14, 1988 gives 6; July 8, 1990 gives 7 (8 + 7 + 19 → 8 + 7 + 1 = 16 → 7). The difference between 6 and 7 is one, the least favorable ratio on this scale.
Note: “6” and “7” here are numbers, not personalities. What they mean is covered on the pages for number 6 and number 7, and reading them is more useful than staring at a percentage.
What the result means
Identical numbers mean a shared way of living: understanding without explanations, and the same blind spots.
Adjacent numbers (a distance of 1, including 9 and 1) are the most tense combination: the two are similar enough to want the same thing and different enough to argue about it.
A distance of 2 is an easy combination: the two share a similar rhythm, and there is little rivalry. A distance of 3 is of medium difficulty: there is common ground, but it has to be sought.
Numbers 4 apart (for example, 1 and 5, or 2 and 7) make a complementary combination: different spheres of interest, little competition.
This is a simple scale based on the distance between the numbers, and we don't present it as anything more: the percentage is a simplified estimate, not the probability that the couple will work out.
Table of Meanings
The meanings of all nine numbers are in the number table. It's worth reading both of the pair's numbers in full: the “relationships and compatibility” section on each page describes what a person with that number expects from a partner. The “easier – harder” lists on those pages are based on the character of the numbers and may differ from the scale, which looks only at the distance between the numbers.
It's also worth looking at the master numbers 11, 22 and 33: if you get one, it is reduced for the compatibility calculation (the calculator tells you so), but the number pages also cover them unreduced.
Frequently asked questions
Why do other sites give a different number?
Because there are two ways to reduce a date and different approaches to master numbers. We reduce the day, month and year separately, which is the most common method.
Does the time of birth matter?
No, numerology works only with the date.
What if my last name has changed?
A name change doesn't affect the Life Path Number, since it's calculated from the date. It does affect the Expression Number.
Does it work?
Numerological compatibility has no verifiable link to real relationships. As a prompt to talk about what each of you expects from a partner, though, a look at the numbers works just fine.