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Abjad Calculator

Type a name or a text in Arabic script to calculate its abjad value letter by letter. The calculator shows the Arabic spelling it used, marks spellings it is not sure of as proposals, and lets you correct them.

Type a name or a text in Arabic script to see its abjad value here.

Abjad is a number system used in Ottoman times for chronograms and page numbering. This tool only calculates; it does not claim a number says anything about a person.

What is abjad?

Abjad gives every letter of the Arabic alphabet a number. Its name comes from the first word of the old letter order: abjad, hawwaz, hutti, kalaman, sa'fas, qarashat, thakhadh, dazagh. Units, tens, hundreds and a thousand are assigned in that order. The eastern (Mashriqi) order, used across the Ottoman world, is the one shown below and used by the calculator.

  1. ا1
  2. ب2
  3. ج3
  4. د4
  5. ه5
  6. و6
  7. ز7
  8. ح8
  9. ط9
  10. ي10
  11. ك20
  12. ل30
  13. م40
  14. ن50
  15. س60
  16. ع70
  17. ف80
  18. ص90
  19. ق100
  20. ر200
  21. ش300
  22. ت400
  23. ث500
  24. خ600
  25. ذ700
  26. ض800
  27. ظ900
  28. غ1000

Chronograms

Ottoman poets hid the year of an event in a word or line whose letters add up to it. The word آخرون (akhirun), written for the conquest of Istanbul, adds up to 1 + 600 + 200 + 6 + 50 = 857, the Hijri year of the conquest. The phrase ذاك مراد الله, for the accession of Sultan Murad IV, adds up to 1032. Tick "I want to type in Arabic script" in the calculator to try them.

Frequently asked questions

Why do different calculators give different values for my name?

Abjad is calculated from Arabic letters, so the result depends on how the name is spelled in Arabic script. Mehmet is written محمد and adds up to 92; spelled out sound by sound it gives a very different number. Some sites count ة as 5, others as 400. This calculator shows the spelling, lets you correct it, and gives both values when ة appears.

Can abjad tell the future?

No. Abjad is a system of letter values used in Ottoman times for chronograms, page numbering and poetry. This tool only calculates the number; it does not claim a number says anything about a person or about what will happen.

How are Turkish and modern names spelled?

Common names of Arabic and Persian origin use their standard spelling. Names of Turkish origin had several Ottoman spellings, and modern names had none, so the calculator proposes a spelling from basic Ottoman conventions, marks it as a proposal, and lets you change it.

Are shadda and vowel marks counted?

No. Traditionally a doubled letter counts once, and vowel marks and a standalone hamza (ء) carry no value. All forms of alif (ا أ إ آ) count 1, and the Ottoman letters پ چ ژ گ take the value of ب ج ز ك.

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