English gematria — sometimes called English Sumerian — takes each letter's ordinal position and multiplies it by 6 (A = 6, B = 12, … Z = 156). The multiplier brings English totals into the same numeric range as classical Hebrew Standard values.
Position × 6 · A = 6 … Z = 156About this cipher
This cipher was popularised by R. A. Waterman in the 1990s and adopted by the contemporary decoder community (Zachary Hubbard's Gematria Effect circle). The ×6 multiplier is the whole point: it makes English sums numerically comparable to Hebrew Standard, so equal totals across languages feel meaningful.
Whether the meaning is real or not is a separate question — but the cipher itself is well-defined and consistent, and it's now the second most-used English gematria after Simple/Ordinal.
Worked example
Input: TORAH
Result: 372
Simple of TORAH = 62. English = 62 × 6 = 372. Digital root: 3 + 7 + 2 = 12 → 3.
Frequently asked
Why multiply by 6?
To bring English ordinal sums into the same numeric range as classical Hebrew Standard values, so cross-language matches feel meaningful. The choice is conventional, not mathematical.
Is English gematria the same as Sumerian gematria?
Yes — the names are used interchangeably for this ×6 cipher. The 'Sumerian' label is historical naming, not a literal claim about ancient Sumeria.
Why is every English-gematria total divisible by 3?
Because each letter is its ordinal × 6, and 6 is divisible by 3. So any English total is automatically divisible by 3 — which is why GeMater's 3·6·9 name generator only really tests the Simple and Jewish totals.