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, Chinese zodiac is Water Ox, with Life Path 5 in numerology.
Capricorn, Chinese zodiac is 
Water Ox, with 
Life Path 5 in numerology.Your match with David
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
The SSA recorded 41,786 American boys and 234 girls named David in 1974: 4th among boys and 649th among girls for the year.
US Social Security Administration public records
What David’s name adds up to
Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.
7
Expression · depth and research
3
Soul Urge · being heard
4
Personality · steady, dependable
The name opens on D (4) and closes on D (4). The value it repeats most is 1, which numerology reads as drive.
Pythagorean letter values · A=1 to I=9, then J=1 again
David’s lucky numbers, colours and stones
Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.
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
Eight Mansions · Kua number
Kua 8, trigram Gen 艮, West group. Best direction Southwest, worst South.
A different tradition from the Direction above, and a different question: feng shui reads it from the solar year 1973, which turns at Li Chun rather than at New Year, and from sex, which Wikidata records as male. Work out your own →
The record
What sets David apart
The Betty Trask Award came in 2008, when David Szalay was 34.
Study took David Szalay to Sussex House School and University of Oxford.
Wikipedia files David Szalay under Hungarian male novelists, British emigrants to Hungary and Writers from Montreal.
Alicia Keys (1981) and Hailee Steinfeld (1996) share the birthday in another year, so the sun sits where it sits here.
- Educated at
- Sussex House School and University of Oxford
- Awards
- Booker Prize (2025), Betty Trask Award (2008) and Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (2009)
- Nominated for
- Booker Prize
- Citizenship
- Hungary and United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
- Wikipedia editions
- 23
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. Working below.
Where David sits
Six lines
David’s dot comes from the chart; yours is where 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.
A 9 p.m. reference sky, not the birth minute. Dedications are commemorative and confer no ownership of stars.
The sky over Montreal that night
Computed for 45.50°N, 9 p.m. local sky.
Overhead at Montreal at 9 p.m. that evening: Mirfak of Perseus, within 6.4° of the exact zenith.
The brightest star above the horizon was Sirius in Canis Major, and 106 catalog stars were up in all.
Montreal sits at 45.5°N, high enough that Capella and Deneb never set there — they circle the pole all night, every night of the year.
The trade is at the other end of the sky: nothing south of −44.5° declination ever rises from here, which puts Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman permanently out of view.
The Moon was at first quarter, 54% lit, and above the horizon, with the Sun 47° down.
The name and the places
- Born in
- Montreal, Canada
- Lives in
- Vienna · London
Wikidata records Vienna and London as David Szalay's home. It is a public record rather than our own research, and it can lag behind a move.
No birth time is on record, so no astrocartography map can be drawn for David Szalay: the lines move about fifteen degrees of longitude an hour. Shared Places can still draw yours.
How unusual David's chart is
Chart pattern score
27 / 100 · Reassuringly normal
T-square onto Sun · 1 planet at a critical degree
An AsterNym index built from stelliums, yods, grand crosses and chart shape. It is not a population percentile, and a high score is not a better chart. Without a birth time the houses are left out of it.
Score your own chart →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.
What Capricorn means →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.
What the Ox means →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.
What Life Path 5 means →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
Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 3° to 16° Aries depending on the hour.
No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1.
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
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
stableVenussextileNeptune2.9° to 3.0° orb
stableMercurytrineMars3.0° to 4.2° orb
stableSaturntrineUranus3.1° to 3.2° orb
stableVenusconjunctionJupiter3.2° to 3.3° orb
stableSunsquarePluto3.6° to 4.6° orb
stableSunconjunctionMercury4.2° to 4.8° orb
stableVenustrinePluto4.5° orb
stableMercuryoppositionSaturn5.1° to 6.8° orb
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
What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.
⚷ ChironAries 16°24′
centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it
⚳ CeresCapricorn 19°54′ (moves 0.40° over the day)
dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured
♡ ErosCapricorn 9°16′ (moves 0.61° over the day)
near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire
⚕ HygieaPisces 1°26′ (moves 0.32° over the day)
main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well
⚸ Black Moon LilithCapricorn 15°29′ (moves 0.11° over the day)
mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed
Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith
- 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°
David’s dominant planets
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
Configurations in David’s chart
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, semi-square, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, quincunx.
- Sun semi-sextile Venus 0.4°
- Mars biquintile Neptune 0.4°
- Jupiter sesquiquadrate Saturn 0.9°
- Mercury semi-sextile Neptune 1.9°
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
Computed from January 1, 1974. Tap to flip.
Birth tarot card
The HierophantAsterNym identity card
The Tidal PioneerWestern zodiac
CapricornChinese zodiac
Ox 丑Life Path
5 · Explorer♄ Ruled by Saturn
Lead Pb
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
Where this comes from, and how it is worked out
David’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q18294482 (CC0), as do the occupations, works and awards above. With no documented birth time this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. The banner above lists what that leaves out. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.
Tropical zodiac, whole-sign houses, modern rulers. Aspects on the western_v1 orb policy; minor ones at 1.5° to 2.5°, skipped where a major already holds. Minor bodies from JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, Lilith as mean apogee. Dominance is an AsterNym score — rulerships, dispositors, aspect count — so other methods can name a different leader.
Portrait by TimDuncan, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The same David Szalay at Wikipedia.
Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. The full method: how it works.
Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not 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.
- 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 is David Szalay's Life Path number?
- Life Path 5, calculated in numerology.
- What is David Szalay's Chiron sign?
- Chiron in Aries at 16°. Position from JPL Horizons.
- 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.
