S is the 19th letter of the alphabet, and in numerology 19 becomes 10 and 10 becomes 1. A first name beginning with S therefore belongs to the same family as A and J, the letters of initiative, but it is the one the tradition calls emotional: a starter who begins with feeling. Sarah, Samuel, Sophia, Stephen, Susan and Sebastian all share this cornerstone. The page takes S as first letter, last letter and middle letter, and ends with the history of a sign that was once a drawing of a tooth.

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The letters that share the number 1

Ten names that begin with S, worked out

Each letter is replaced by its Pythagorean number and the numbers are added; the sum is reduced to the Expression number (11, 22 and 33 are kept).

S as the First Letter: The Cornerstone

Numerologists describe the S cornerstone as warm, magnetic and wholehearted. A person whose name begins with S is said to enter a new situation with charm and with real feeling behind it, and to win people over quickly because the enthusiasm is not an act. There is drive here, as with every letter that reduces to 1, but it is carried on emotion more than on plan, so the starts are bold and sometimes sudden. The price is variability. The same authors who praise the S for devotion and charisma warn of ups and downs: strong reactions, a decision made in one mood and regretted in the next, a sense of drama about ordinary setbacks. The usual advice is to sleep on anything important. An S who lets the first wave pass is said to combine the courage of the number 1 with a warmth the other two letters of the group do not have.

The Number Behind S: 1

S is the 19th letter. Adding 1 and 9 gives 10, and 1 and 0 give 1. The Chaldean system, which goes by sound, disagrees and assigns S the value 3. In the Pythagorean reading the detour through 19 is significant, because numerologists single out 19 as one of the numbers that speak of independence learned the hard way: a person who wants to stand alone and has to discover when to accept help. That is why S is called a third-level 1, after A, the 1st letter, and J, the 10th. On the planes of expression S is an emotional letter in the vacillating mode, in the company of B, T and X, where A and J are both mental. The classification says in two words what the descriptions say at length: the will of a 1, moved by feeling and liable to change.

S at the End of a Name: The Capstone

S is one of the commonest last letters in English first names: James, Thomas, Nicholas, Lucas, Charles, Iris, Agnes, Alexis. As a capstone it is read as an emotional way of ending. Such a person is said to close things decisively and in their own time, sometimes abruptly, and often by throwing themselves into the next thing before the last has quite cooled. Goodbyes matter to them and are rarely neutral. The strength of the S capstone is that nothing is left half-finished out of indifference; the weakness is that an ending can be coloured by the mood of the day. A name with S at both ends, such as Silas or Sirius, repeats the theme at each side of whatever lies between.

S Inside a Name and S Repeated

As a consonant S is never the first vowel, but it turns up in the middle of a great many names: Joseph, Isabella, Christopher, Rosa, Oscar. Each S contributes a 1 to the tally of the name's numbers. Double S is common too, in Jessica, Melissa, Vanessa and Russell, and is read as extra intensity in the feelings. In the method that counts every letter, a name rich in 1s points to someone with plenty of initiative, and when those 1s are mostly S and not A the initiative is said to follow the heart. People whose names contain no A, J or S are described as coming to independence later.

Strengths and Friction

The strengths that numerology attaches to S names are charm, loyalty, emotional courage and an instinct for making others feel welcome. These are the people who remember a birthday and mean the embrace. The friction lies in moodiness, in taking things personally and in impulsive choices, especially where money or the heart is involved. Authors commonly say that S people do well in anything that needs presence, such as teaching, sales, performance, hospitality and care, and that they need work in which enthusiasm counts for something. Solitary routine suits them less. The counsel repeated in every handbook is balance: feel it fully, then decide slowly.

Where the Letter S Comes From

The ancestor of S is the Phoenician letter shin, which meant tooth and looked like a W, a row of two points. The Greeks set it on its side to make sigma, and the Etruscans and Romans smoothed the angles into the double curve used today. For centuries English had two forms of the small letter, the round s at the end of words and a long s that resembled an f without its crossbar everywhere else; printers gave up the long form around 1800, which is why old books seem to speak of bleſſings. S has one distinction no other letter can claim. More words in an English dictionary begin with it than with any other letter of the alphabet.

Frequently asked

What does it mean if your name starts with S?

In numerology S reduces to the number 1 and is read as initiative driven by feeling: a warm, charismatic and devoted nature, with a tendency to emotional highs and lows.

What number is the letter S in numerology?

S is the 19th letter; 19 reduces to 10 and then to 1 in the Pythagorean system. The Chaldean system gives S the value 3.

How is S different from A and J?

All three reduce to 1. A is the direct form, J the fair-minded one, and S the emotional one, classed with the letters of feeling and not with the mental letters.

What does S mean at the end of a name?

As a last letter S is the capstone, read as a decisive and emotional way of finishing things, often by moving straight on to something new.

Birth charts of people whose name begins with S

First letters, one by one