Greek Gematria Calculator (isopsephy: letter values 1–900)

Understanding the Greek isopsephy calculator — concept and principle

This calculator adds up the number values of the letters in a Greek word or phrase, a practice called isopsephy, the Greek form of gematria. It is used by students of ancient Greek, of early Christian and Gnostic texts, and by anyone curious about old number-letter traditions.

How it is calculated

• Each letter takes its value from the ancient Greek alphabetic (Ionian) numerals: α–θ = 1–9 with stigma or digamma (ϛ, ϝ) for 6; ι–π = 10–80 with koppa (ϟ) for 90; ρ–ω = 100–800 with sampi (ϡ) for 900.
• Final sigma ς counts like σ (200).
• Accents, breathings and iota subscripts are stripped first; capital and small letters count the same.
• Value = sum of the letter values; digital root = 1 + (value − 1) mod 9.

The principle

Before Arabic numerals spread, the Greeks wrote numbers with letters. The 24 letters of the classical alphabet, plus three older letters kept only as numerals (stigma/digamma, koppa and sampi), cover units, tens and hundreds. Because every word is also a string of numerals, it has a total. Isopsephy compares words with the same total, and was used in ancient inscriptions, poetry and religious texts. The calculation is pure addition, so the important choices are which letters count and how accents are handled.

Worked example

Default input: ΑΒΡΑΞΑΣ.

1. Letters: α = 1, β = 2, ρ = 100, α = 1, ξ = 60, α = 1, ς/σ = 200.
2. Sum = 1 + 2 + 100 + 1 + 60 + 1 + 200 = 365.
3. Greek letters counted = 7; other characters ignored = 0.
4. Digital root = 3 + 6 + 5 = 14 → 1 + 4 = 5.
5. Letter values: α1 + β2 + ρ100 + α1 + ξ60 + α1 + ς200.

How to read the result

The value 365 matches the number of days in a year, which is why the name Abraxas was popular on ancient amulets. Matches like this are cultural and interpretive, not mathematical proof of meaning. When comparing with a reference book, check that both count final sigma as 200 and treat the archaic letters the same way.

Common mistakes

• Typing Latin look-alikes, such as Latin P for Greek ρ or Latin X for χ.
• Expecting modern Greek spellings to match ancient ones.
• Counting stigma (ϛ) as σ + τ, which is 500; here it is 6.
• Mixing Hebrew gematria methods with Greek isopsephy.

Frequently asked questions

What is isopsephy?

The Greek practice of adding the number values of a word's letters, similar to Hebrew gematria.

Why does Abraxas equal 365?

Its letters sum to 1 + 2 + 100 + 1 + 60 + 1 + 200 = 365.

What are stigma, koppa and sampi?

Archaic letters kept as numerals for 6, 90 and 900.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Greek numerals" (Ionian alphabetic numeral values) · Wikipedia, "Isopsephy"