Angel numbers
Repeating number sequences some people read as messages, what the belief holds each one means, and where the idea came from.
Angel numbers are repeating number sequences, such as 111, 444 or 1234, that some people believe are messages from angels. That is a spiritual belief, not a fact about numbers: Katie Spalding, who has a PhD in maths, writes in IFLScience that there is “no science behind the concept”. These pages present it as a belief, and say whose reading of each number they give.
Triple numbers
- 000 angel numberThree zeros, read by angel-number writers as a message about God and wholeness. Doreen Virtue’s 1999 list called 000 a reminder that “you are one with God” and a sign that a situation has come full circle.
- 111 angel numberThree ones, the best-known angel number. Doreen Virtue, who popularised angel numbers, wrote in 1999 that 111 means your thoughts are “manifesting into form at record speeds”.
- 222 angel numberThree twos, read by angel-number writers as a sign that something hoped for is taking root. Doreen Virtue’s 1999 list said 222 means “newly planted ideas are beginning to grow into reality”.
- 333 angel numberThree threes. In Doreen Virtue’s 1999 list, 333 means the Ascended Masters are near; later angel-number writers read it as growth and creativity.
- 444 angel numberThree fours, read by angel-number writers as a sign that angels are close. Doreen Virtue’s 1999 list says 444 means “the angels are surrounding you now”.
- 555 angel numberThree fives. Angel-number writers read 555 as a sign of coming change; Doreen Virtue’s 1999 list begins, “Buckle your seatbelts. A major life change is upon you.”
- 666 angel numberThree sixes, the number of the beast in the Book of Revelation. Angel-number writers read it differently: for Doreen Virtue it meant thoughts too focused on the material world.
- 777 angel numberThree sevens. Angel-number writers read 777 as the luckiest of the triple numbers; Doreen Virtue’s 1999 list says “the angels applaud you”.
- 888 angel numberThree eights. Angel-number writers disagree about it: Doreen Virtue’s 1999 list read 888 as a phase of life ending, and later writers read it as abundance. Eight is separately a lucky number in Chinese tradition.
- 999 angel numberThree nines, read by angel-number writers as the end of a phase. Doreen Virtue’s 1999 list gives 999 as “Completion”.
Other sequences
- 1111 angel numberFour ones, or 11:11 on a clock, the minute people make a wish. Angel-number writers read it as a moment when thoughts and wishes carry extra power.
- 1212 angel numberThe digits 1212, as on a clock at 12:12. Angel-number writers read it as a call to trust, and to balance in relationships.
- 1234 angel numberThe digits 1, 2, 3, 4 in order. Angel-number writers read 1234 as a sign to take things one step at a time.
- 1010 angel numberThe digits 1010, as on a clock at 10:10. Angel-number writers read it as a spiritual new start.
- 2222 angel numberFour twos, as on a 24-hour clock at 22:22. Angel-number writers read 2222 as balance, and as a sign that something hoped for has been planted and will grow.
Who began the idea
The New Age author Doreen Virtue listed the meanings of “number sequences” in Healing with the Angels (Hay House, 1999). Angel Numbers followed in 2005 and Angel Numbers 101 in 2008. The sources disagree on when the name began: one Mental Floss article says Virtue first proposed angel numbers “in the late 1990s”, another that she coined the term “in her 2005 book of the same name”. Virtue herself now says she coined and popularised the phrase. In 2017 she converted to Christianity and repudiated her earlier teachings; she wrote in Christianity Today that she has begged people to stop using her old products.
How these pages give meanings
Each page sets Virtue’s 1999 meaning beside later writers’, because they often differ. Of 888 she wrote, “A phase of your life is about to end”; Mental Floss’s 2026 guide links it to “abundance, prosperity, financial success”. That guide itself says the meanings have “diverged widely” across spiritual guides and healers. For four-digit numbers such as 1212, the pages quote the astrologers and numerologists TODAY.com interviewed.
Older traditions with the same digits
Other traditions give the same digits other meanings, and the pages keep them apart from the angel reading. The Pythagoreans, Britannica says, made 1 the origin of all things and ten the most perfect number. In Chinese, eight sounds like fa, “prosperous”, so the Chinese government set the start of the Olympics for 8:08:08 p.m. on 8-8-08 (NPR); four sounds very like the word for death (ABC Science). 666 is “the number of the beast” in Revelation 13:18, which the 666 page treats separately.
Why repeated numbers seem to follow people
Psychology Today describes the frequency illusion, or Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, in which something newly noticed seems to turn up everywhere, as “a combination of selective attention and confirmation bias”. The anthropologist John W. Hoopes calls apophenia, “the tendency to interpret random patterns as meaningful”, “a normal human experience”.
Sources
- What Are “Angel Numbers”, And What Is The Scientific Reason Behind Them?, Katie Spalding, 23 January 2023, IFLScience
- Doreen Virtue, Ethan Doyle White, 22 July 2022, World Religions and Spirituality Project, Timeline; Founder/Group History
- Number Sequences From The Angels, Doreen Virtue; the page gives it as a book excerpt from Healing with the Angels (Hay House, 1999), Spirit Library (spiritlibrary.com), Number Sequences; Number Combinations
- Healing with the angels: how the angels can assist you in every area of your life, Doreen Virtue; Internet Archive catalogue record, Internet Archive, Catalogue record (publication date, publisher)
- Angel numbers: the angels explain the meaning of 111, 444, and other numbers in your life, Doreen Virtue with Lynnette Brown; Internet Archive catalogue record, Internet Archive, Catalogue record (date, publisher, contents, associated names)
- Angel Numbers 101: The Meaning of 111, 123, 444, and Other Number Sequences, Doreen Virtue; Google Books record and publisher description, Hay House, 2008 (Google Books), Description
- The Meanings of All the Angel Numbers, From 1111 to 999, Eden Gordon, 4 September 2026 (written from within the belief), Mental Floss
- The Spiritual Meaning of Angel Number 777, Nitya Rao, 27 March 2026, Mental Floss
- The Biblical Truth About Angel Numbers with Doreen Virtue, Contending for the Word podcast, episode summary (Dave Jenkins with Doreen Virtue), Servants of Grace, Episode summary
- I Left the New Age Behind When I Read the Old Testament, Doreen Virtue, March 2022 issue, Christianity Today
- Angel Number 1212 Meaning & Significance, Per Numerology Experts, Sarah Fielding, quoting Courtney Cunningham and Sidhharrth S Kumaar, TODAY.com (NBC News)
- Pythagoreanism, Holger Thesleff, Encyclopaedia Britannica (Wayback Machine copy, 5 September 2026), What do Pythagoreans believe about numbers?
- 8-8-08, A Lucky Day For Weddings, Ki-Min Sung, Day to Day, 7 August 2008 (transcript), NPR, Transcript
- Number four not so deadly for Chinese, ABC Science, 8 December 2003, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Revelation 13:18 (King James Version), Bible Gateway, Revelation 13:18
- Frequency Illusion, Psychology Today Basics, Psychology Today
- 11-11-11, Apophenia, and the Meaning of Life, John W. Hoopes (University of Kansas), 11 November 2011, Psychology Today
Last reviewed September 30, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research