David Szalay
David Szalay (born January 1, 1974, Montreal, Canada), aged 52, is a Canadian-born Hungarian-British writer (born 1974). Szalay's honours include Booker Prize, Betty Trask Award and Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize.
David Szalay’s zodiac sign is Capricorn, and in the Chinese zodiac they are a Water Ox, with Life Path 5 in numerology.
Capricorn, and in the Chinese zodiac they are a 
Water Ox, with 
Life Path 5 in numerology.How compatible are you with David Szalay?
Your birthday, just below, gives your match percentage with David. Under a minute.
Your AsterNym Match
?%Your score is waiting.
Two details and you have your number with David. Under a minute, and it is real astrology, not a quiz.
Your result includes:
- · Your compatibility percentage
- · What attracts you to each other
- · What you would bring to the match
- · Where you might clash
- · Whether you share lucky numbers, colours, stones or seasons
David Szalay’s AsterNym identity
The Tidal Pioneer
Water represents depth and adaptability. Water-led charts are associated with instinct, memory and the ability to find a path around obstacles. Life Path 5 represents freedom: change, movement, variety and resistance to restrictive routines.
Water Day Master (BaZi) × cardinal Sun × Life Path 5, on the physical plane.
How common is the name David in the U.S.?
#35
US rank in 2025
~3,689,613
Americans share it since 1880
1955
its peak year
US Social Security Administration public records
David’s lucky numbers, colours and stones
Traditional correspondences calculated from AsterNym’s astrology, wuxing and numerology system.
Lucky numbers
5 · 1 · 9
Lucky colours
Blue & Black
Lucky day
Saturday
Direction
↑ North
Season
winter
Stones
Garnet, Blue Sapphire, Aquamarine
Flower constellation
🌺 Carnation · 🤍 Camellia · 🪷 Lotus
Crimson · Ivory · Soft pink
The same wuxing & numerology correspondences as your own print. One tradition, read for everyone
What the chart says
David, according to the stars
Core essence
David is playing a longer game than everyone else at the table. The core of David is quiet ambition and a dry, private sense of humour that only their people get to see. They are the one who actually does the thing, and then does not mention it. Underneath the composure is someone who wants very badly to be proud of what they built.
The vibe
Underneath, David runs hot. The Moon in Aries means feelings arrive fast and loud and burn out just as fast, so the flare you saw an hour ago is already forgiven. What David needs to feel safe is honesty in real time and room to react. Say it straight, and they will always meet you there.
How David wants to be loved
David wants to be loved as a friend first, and then as everything. Venus in Aquarius needs freedom, conversation and a partner who finds their strangeness delightful. Rules and jealousy make them cold; acceptance makes them devoted. Let David be fully themselves and they will never want to be anywhere else.
How David creates
How David makes things happen: they keep moving. A Yang Water day master is the river, curious, restless, going somewhere even when nobody knows where. David creates by exploring, by talking to everyone, by carrying ideas from one place to another. Hard to pin down, impossible to dam, and the best person to have on a long trip.
Instinct
Instinct: David is steady under pressure, an Ox year, and their gut reaction is to keep going. Patient, stubborn in the useful way, the one still working when the others have gone home, and quietly very proud of it. The Water year softens it: intuitive, adaptable, feeling their way through people.
Purpose
Purpose: Life Path 5 is the free spirit. David is here to explore, to change, to taste everything and report back. Adventure, variety and freedom are not distractions from their purpose, they are it. The lesson is choosing, sometimes, and staying.
Triggers
Triggers: being rushed, and being pushed. Mars in Taurus means David is slow to anger and very hard to move once they are. Patience is the superpower, stubbornness its shadow. Let them set the pace and they are unstoppable in their own time.
Computed from David's birth date, not guessed. The full working is below.
Where David sits
Six lines. Tap where you sit on each.
David’s dot is placed from the chart. Yours is wherever you put it.
You likely balance a tight inner circle with a wider orbit you dip into.
You likely weigh most decisions but can move fast when it matters.
You likely share some feelings openly and keep others to yourself.
You likely handle some friction right away and let smaller things settle.
You may favor what's proven and workable over the untested idea.
You may build trust slowly, letting closeness earn its way in.
Tap each line where you sit.
All twelve of yours, from your birth date →✦ A real star from their birth night
Dedicate a star to David Szalay
Three stars chosen from the real sky above Montreal on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.
No public birth time is available, so this is a 9:00 p.m. reference evening sky for that date and place. It is connected to the night of birth; it is not the sky at the birth minute, and no other reading on this page uses that time. Dedications are commemorative AsterNym records and do not rename or confer ownership of stars.
David Szalay at a glance
Capricorn Sun
Capricorn SunDry wit, dead serious.
David Szalay's Sun was in Capricorn for the whole of January 1, 1974, so no birth time is needed to settle it. Traditional Capricorn readings associate the sign with ambition, structure and the long game: building slowly toward a position that will hold. Astrologers describe it as the cardinal earth sign, ruled by Saturn, and read it for discipline and reserve. The corresponding tension is severity, described in the tradition as a seriousness that can be turned on the self as hard as on the work.
Water Ox
Water OxSays little. Finishes everything.
David Szalay was born on January 1, 1974, which falls in a Water Ox year of the Chinese calendar. Traditional Ox readings emphasise endurance, reliability and the capacity to finish what was started, slowly and without complaint. The Chinese almanacs describe the Ox as the worker of the cycle, whose word holds. The corresponding caution in the tradition is stubbornness that presents itself as principle, and a difficulty changing course once a furrow has been cut.
Life Path 5
Life Path 5Freedom over comfort, always.
David Szalay's birth date, January 1, 1974, reduces to Life Path 5 under the numerology method AsterNym uses. Traditional Life Path 5 readings associate the number with freedom, change and variety: movement, new experience and resistance to restrictive routine. Numerologists describe it as the path of the traveller, adaptable and restless. The corresponding tension is instability, with the caution that constant motion can become a way of avoiding commitment to any one direction.
What stands out in David’s chart
- The tightest major aspect in David Szalay's date-only chart is Mercury square Pluto, with an orb of under 1°.
- Six of the ten planets fall in Cardinal signs, making Cardinal the strongest modality in this chart.
- David Szalay combines a Water Day Master in BaZi with a cardinal Sun and a Life Path on the physical plane, the combination AsterNym calls The Tidal Pioneer.
David’s birth chart
Reference chart · birth time unknown
No documented birth time exists for David Szalay, so the positions below are checked across the whole birth date, not fixed at noon. The Moon ranges from 3° to 16° Aries depending on the hour. The wheel's houses are a solar chart, counted from the Sun's sign, because the Ascendant needs a time.
No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1. A documented time would place them from the Ascendant instead.
Placements
Tap one to light it on the wheel.
The working: aspects, Chiron and the asteroids, dominant planets and configurationsshow
Aspects across every possible birth time
Stable aspects hold for any birth hour. Possible ones depend on the hour, so their orb is a range rather than a number. Orb policy western_v1.
stableMercurysquarePluto0.0° to 1.2° orb
David’s mind grinds against their depths. The friction is lifelong. Worked with, it builds real strength.
stableSunsquareMoon0.1° to 6.5° orb
David’s core identity grinds against their feelings.
stableNeptunesextilePluto1.5° to 1.6° orb
David’s imagination opens doors for their depths. An easy alliance, and it pays off when it is used.
stableMarssextileSaturn2.1° to 2.5° orb
David’s drive opens doors for their discipline.
stableVenussextileNeptune2.9° to 3.0° orb
David’s affections open doors for their imagination. An easy alliance, and it pays off when it is used.
stableMercurytrineMars3.0° to 4.2° orb
David’s mind flows straight into their drive. Effortless, which is exactly why it gets taken for granted.
stableSaturntrineUranus3.1° to 3.2° orb
David’s discipline flows straight into their need for freedom.
stableVenusconjunctionJupiter3.2° to 3.3° orb
David’s affections and growth act as one.
stableSunsquarePluto3.6° to 4.6° orb
David’s core identity grinds against their depths. The angle that irritates, and the one that teaches.
stableSunconjunctionMercury4.2° to 4.8° orb
David’s core identity and mind act as one. Wherever one goes, the other is already there.
stableVenustrinePluto4.5° orb
David’s affections flow straight into their depths. A talent so smooth it can go unnoticed.
stableMercuryoppositionSaturn5.1° to 6.8° orb
David’s mind pulls against their discipline from across the wheel.
Chart signature
Elements
- Fire2 of 10
- Earth3 of 10
- Air4 of 10
- Water1 of 10
Modalities
- Cardinal6 of 10
- Fixed3 of 10
- Mutable1 of 10
Counted across the ten planets by sign: Air leads this chart.
David’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith
Four minor bodies and the mean lunar apogee, placed in the same tropical zodiac as the planets above. None of these feed the chart signature, the rarity score or any ranking on this site: they are listed for readers who use them. Chiron, Ceres, Eros and Hygiea positions come from JPL Horizons; Black Moon Lilith is the mean apogee, the point most published Lilith tables use. The readings are the modern tradition’s, not AsterNym’s. Without a birth time the degree is the noon value and the day's movement is shown alongside it.
⚷ ChironAries 16°24′
centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it
Chiron in Aries is read as a sore spot around asserting oneself: David may have learnt early that going first costs something, and built a way of leading that does not need permission.
⚳ CeresCapricorn 19°54′ (moves 0.40° over the day)
dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured
Ceres in Capricorn is read as nurture through structure and provision. The reading has David caring by building something that lasts for others.
♡ ErosCapricorn 9°16′ (moves 0.61° over the day)
near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire
Eros in Capricorn is read as desire that respects competence and control. David is read as drawn to people who have built something.
⚕ HygieaPisces 1°26′ (moves 0.32° over the day)
main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well
Hygiea in Pisces is read as health that rises and falls with what is absorbed from others. The reading has David needing solitude to reset.
⚸ Black Moon LilithCapricorn 15°29′ (moves 0.11° over the day)
mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed
Black Moon Lilith in Capricorn is read as ambition that does not ask to be liked. David is read as someone who takes the authority rather than waiting for it.
Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith
Major aspects only, at a tight 3° orb. The Moon is left out because its position moves 13° across an untimed day.
- Hygiea trine Saturn 0.9°
- Hygiea sextile Mars 1.4°
- Eros conjunction Sun 1.7°
- Chiron sextile Jupiter 1.8°
- Eros square Pluto 2.4°
- Eros conjunction Mercury 2.8°
Method: JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, 1700–2100, cubic Hermite interpolation; geocentric, true ecliptic of date, tropical; geometric (no light-time or aberration); Lilith = mean lunar apogee (Chapront/Meeus mean perigee + 180°).
David’s dominant planets
Scored from rulerships, dispositors and aspect count. Without a birth time there is no Ascendant or house to score, and the Moon's sign is left out where it could change with the hour.
1. ♄ Saturn9 pts
rules the Sun sign, Capricorn; disposes Sun, Mercury; 4 major aspects
2. ♀ Venus6 pts
disposes Mars, Uranus, Pluto; 3 major aspects
3. ♇ Pluto5 pts
5 major aspects
A Saturn-led chart is read as structure and endurance leading: David is read as someone who builds slowly and keeps what is built.
How the score is built
- Rules the Sun sign, Moon sign or Ascendant sign: 3 points each (traditional co-rulers of Scorpio, Aquarius and Pisces score half).
- Sits in a sign it rules: 2 points.
- Disposes another planet (that planet sits in a sign it rules): 1 point each.
- Angular: 2 points in the first or tenth house, 1 point in the fourth or seventh (timed births only).
- Every major aspect it makes: 1 point.
Dominance scoring is an AsterNym method. Other sites weight differently and can name a different leader for the same chart.
Configurations in David’s chart
Closed shapes among the ten planets under the site’s one aspect-orb policy. The Moon is excluded without a birth time, so a shape that needs it is not claimed.
T-square onto Pluto · Mercury, Saturn, PlutoAn opposition with a third planet squaring both ends. Read as a driving tension that resolves through the apex planet.
Minor aspects
semi-sextile 30° (orb 2°), semi-square 45° (orb 2°), quintile 72° (orb 1.5°), sesquiquadrate 135° (orb 2°), biquintile 144° (orb 1.5°), quincunx 150° (orb 2.5°). Pairs already in a major aspect are not repeated. Moon excluded without a birth time.
- Sun semi-sextile Venus 0.4°
- Mars biquintile Neptune 0.4°
- Jupiter sesquiquadrate Saturn 0.9°
- Mercury semi-sextile Neptune 1.9°
Houses need a birth time. None is documented for David Szalay, so no house placements are claimed for the planets or the minor bodies above.
More people like David
Other writers
- Andrea Elliott1972
- Douglas Stuart1976
- David Leonhardt1973
- Jericho Brown1976
- Naomi Kritzer1973
- Nikole Hannah-Jones1976
Born in Canada
- Danny RimerCanadian businessman
- Brad GoreskiCanadian television personality
- Sandra OhCanadian and American actress (born 1971)
- Georgette LeBlancCanadian poet (born 1977)
- Tom GreenCanadian actor and comedian
- Ryan ReynoldsCanadian-American actor and entrepreneur
More charts like David’s
Fellow Capricorn suns
- Linda GreenhouseAmerican journalist
- Meg GreenfieldAmerican journalist
- Jennifer HigdonAmerican composer
Born in Ox years
- Marcello HernandezAmerican comedian
- Andrew ForrestAustralian mining businessman
- JWowwAmerican television personality
Also born on January 1
- Alicia Keys1981
- Hailee Steinfeld1996
- Kendrick Lamar1987
- Rivelino1946
- Ludacris1977
- Chad Michael Murray1981
Fellow Yang Water day masters
- Carlton DavisAmerican football player
- Hassan HaskinsAmerican football running back
- Rico DowdleAmerican football running back
Other Capricorn Ox charts
- Harold Russellfilm and television actor
- John LynchIrish actor and novelist (born 1961)
- Halit AkçatepeTurkish actor
- Jessica GunningBritish television and theatre actress
Other Tidal Pioneers
- Roddy RicchAmerican rapper (born 1998)
- Albert BrooksAmerican actor and comedian
- Hanno PöschlAustrian actor
- Lee J. CobbAmerican actor
Famous people with Life Path 5
- George F. KennanAmerican advisor, diplomat, political scientist and historian
- Robert N. ButlerAmerican academic
- Mark Van DorenAmerican poet and literary critic
From the journal: Flying Star feng shui: the one that changes with time · What is a birth chart? How the chart is calculated
David’s cards
Every card is computed from January 1, 1974, none chosen. Tap one to flip it.
♄ Ruled by Saturn
Lead Pb
Tap to flip
The working: BaZi pillarsshow
BaZi pillars
Day Master: yang Water.
Year
癸
yin Water
丑
Ox
Earth
roots & early life
Month
甲
yang Wood
子
Rat
Water
work & drive
Day
day master
壬
yang Water
寅
Tiger
Wood
you & partnership
No birth time is on public record for David Szalay, so this chart has three pillars rather than four. The hour pillar, the rising sign and the birth-sky star all need a time, and we would rather leave them out than invent one.
Where this data comes from
David’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q18294482, released under CC0, as do the occupations, works, teams and awards in the biography above. No documented birth time is available, so this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. Time-dependent results use a clearly labelled reference time and should not be read as their exact birth chart. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept only at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.
Portrait by TimDuncan, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The same David Szalay at Wikipedia.
Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. Every entry is checked against its Wikidata record; where a person shares a name with someone else, the entity id is what settles which of them this is. What we will not tell you sets out the claims this site refuses to make.
These are traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions. AsterNym is not affiliated with or endorsed by David Szalay.
Quick answers about David Szalay’s chart
- How old is David Szalay?
- David Szalay is 52 years old, born January 1, 1974 in Montreal, Canada.
- What zodiac sign is David Szalay?
- David Szalay is a Capricorn: born January 1, 1974, which puts the Sun in Capricorn for the whole of that day. That is the Western star sign. In the Chinese zodiac they are a Water Ox.
- What is David Szalay's Chinese zodiac animal?
- The Ox, with the Water element, from the Chinese lunar year of the January 1, 1974 birth.
- What time was David Szalay born?
- No reliably documented birth time is public, so AsterNym does not calculate an Ascendant. This chart uses date-only positions: the wheel shows a reference solar chart (the Sun's sign as house 1), and the Ascendant is left uncomputed instead of guessed from an unverified time.
- What is David Szalay's Life Path number?
- Life Path 5, calculated in numerology from the January 1, 1974 birth date.
- What is David Szalay's Chiron sign?
- Chiron in Aries at 16°. Position from JPL Horizons for the January 1, 1974 birth date.
- Where is David Szalay's Black Moon Lilith?
- Mean Black Moon Lilith in Capricorn at 15°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
- What is David Szalay's dominant planet?
- Saturn, on AsterNym's dominance score (9 points: rules the Sun sign, Capricorn; disposes Sun, Mercury; 4 major aspects). Venus is second and Pluto third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.
