The Five Grids: Heaven, Person, Earth, Outer and Total
The Five Grids turn the stroke counts of a Chinese name into five numbers by adding them up in different combinations; each number is then checked against the 81 numbers. The rules are simple, but they differ slightly for one- and two-character surnames and given names.
Who this is for: this system works only on names written in Chinese characters. If you have a Chinese name, or are choosing one, enter it in characters (traditional forms) and the calculator explains the result in English. It cannot be applied to names in the Latin alphabet.
The formulas
| Single surname, two-character name | Single surname, one-character name | Compound surname, two-character name | Compound surname, one-character name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heaven | Surname + 1 | Surname + 1 | Surname 1 + Surname 2 | Surname 1 + Surname 2 |
| Person | Surname + Name 1 | Surname + Name | Surname 2 + Name 1 | Surname 2 + Name |
| Earth | Name 1 + Name 2 | Name + 1 | Name 1 + Name 2 | Name + 1 |
| Outer | Name 2 + 1 | 2 | Surname 1 + Name 2 | Surname 1 + 1 |
| Total | Everything added | Everything added | Everything added | Everything added |
The extra "+ 1" is called a placeholder number. It lets a one-character surname or given name still make up a pair.
Worked examples (fictional names)
| Name (strokes) | Heaven | Person | Earth | Outer | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 王小明 (Wang Xiaoming): 王 4, 小 3, 明 8 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 15 |
| 陳雅文 (Chen Yawen): 陳 16, 雅 12, 文 4 | 17 | 28 | 16 | 5 | 32 |
| 歐陽宇 (Ouyang Yu): 歐 15, 陽 17, 宇 6 | 32 | 23 | 7 | 16 | 38 |
| 林一 (Lin Yi): 林 8, 一 1 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
What each grid traditionally stands for
| Grid | Traditional reading |
|---|---|
| Heaven | Ancestors and elders. Because it comes from the surname alone, tradition says it is not judged lucky or unlucky |
| Person | The "main fortune": your own character and core, treated as the most important grid |
| Earth | The "early fortune": youth, children and foundations |
| Outer | The "side fortune": relationships and your surroundings |
| Total | The "later fortune": life as a whole and the later years |
Five Grids calculator
Enter a Chinese surname and given name in characters (traditional forms). The calculator looks up the Kangxi stroke count of each character and works out the Heaven, Person, Earth, Outer and Total grids and the San Cai elements, explained in English. If a character is missing or you follow another counting school, you can edit the strokes yourself. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Strokes follow the Kangxi Dictionary with radicals restored to their full form (氵 counts 4, 艹 counts 6 …); the numerals one to ten count as their value. Character data derived from the Unicode Unihan database.
Common misconceptions
One unlucky grid makes the whole name bad.
Sources don't even agree on which numbers are unlucky, and a name's meaning, its sound and how you feel about it matter far more than its strokes.
The Five Grids are an ancient Chinese method.
The Five Grids method was systematized by Kumasaki Kenō in Japan in the early 20th century and only later spread to Taiwan.
Want to pick characters by your BaZi Useful God instead of by stroke numbers? See BaZi baby names →
A straight word: the Five Grids are a modern Japanese method, not an ancient one
The popular Five Grids method (Heaven, Person, Earth, Outer and Total grids read against the 81 numbers) was put together by the Japanese author Kumasaki Kenō in the early 20th century and later became common in Taiwan. It is not a classical Chinese tradition, and schools disagree both on how to count strokes and on which numbers are lucky. What makes a name good is its meaning, its sound, how it feels to write, and what it means to you; none of that is measured by strokes. We don't recommend changing a name because of an "unlucky" number. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
Calculate the Five Grids
Enter a Chinese name; the calculator looks up the strokes and gives all five grids and the San Cai.
Five Grids FAQ
What are the Five Grids?
The Heaven, Person, Earth, Outer and Total grids.
How is the Outer grid calculated for a single surname and a two-character name?
Strokes of the second character of the given name, plus 1.
Which grid matters most?
Tradition puts the Person grid (the main fortune) first; the Heaven grid comes from the surname and is not judged lucky or unlucky.