AsterNymAsterNym
Portrait of Ellen Goodman

Ellen Goodman

Ellen Goodman (born April 11, 1941, Newton, United States), aged 85, is an American journalist and writer. Goodman's honours include Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award.

Ellen Goodman’s zodiac sign is Aries, Chinese zodiac is Metal Snake, with Life Path 3 in numerology.

Your match with Ellen

Free, no account, stays on this device. Add a birth time later.

Ellen Goodman’s AsterNym identity

The Steadfast Diplomat

Earth represents stability. Earth-led charts are associated with patience, responsibility and the ability to make people or projects feel supported. Life Path 3 represents expression: words, art, humour and making inner experience visible.

Earth Day Master (BaZi) × cardinal Sun × Life Path 3, on the emotional plane.

How common is the name Ellen in the U.S.?

#1062

US rank in 2025

~276,029

Americans share it since 1880

1951

its peak year

Of the names registered in 1941, Ellen came 67th among girls and 1,462nd among boys, carried by 3,664 American girls and 22 boys.

US Social Security Administration public records

What Ellen’s name adds up to

Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.

9

Expression · the bigger picture

5

Soul Urge · freedom

4

Personality · steady, dependable

The name opens on E (5) and closes on N (5). The value it repeats most is 5, which numerology reads as movement.

Pythagorean letter values · A=1 to I=9, then J=1 again

Ellen’s lucky numbers, colours and stones

Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.

Lucky numbers

3 · 2 · 8 · 9

Lucky colours

White & Gold

Lucky day

Tuesday

Direction

← West

Season

autumn

Stones

Diamond, Red Coral, Rutilated Quartz

Flower constellation

🌼 Daisy · 🌺 Red Dahlia · 🤍 White Magnolia

White · Crimson · Moonlight white

Eight Mansions · Kua number

Kua 2, trigram Kun 坤, West group. Best direction Northeast, worst East.

A different tradition from the Direction above, and a different question: feng shui reads it from the solar year 1941, which turns at Li Chun rather than at New Year, and from sex, which Wikidata records as female. Work out your own →

The record

What sets Ellen apart

Ellen Goodman took the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1980, at 39.

The classrooms behind this chart: Buckingham Browne & Nichols School and Radcliffe College.

The encyclopaedia's own shelving for Ellen Goodman: People from Greater Boston, Detroit Free Press people and American social entrepreneurs.

Alessandra Ambrosio (1981) and Duncan Laurence (1994) share the birthday in another year, so the sun sits where it sits here.

Educated at
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, Radcliffe College and Harvard University
Awards
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary (1980) and Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award (1998)
Citizenship
United States
Languages
English
Wikipedia editions
6

What the chart says

Ellen, according to the stars

Core essence

Ellen leads with the body. First in, first to speak, first to say the thing everyone was thinking, and honestly a little surprised when the room needed a second to catch up. The core of Ellen is courage that does not look like courage from the inside, it just looks like Tuesday. They would rather be wrong fast than right slowly, and it is why people follow them.

The vibe

Underneath, Ellen cannot fully relax while anyone in the room is unhappy. The Moon in Libra feels through harmony and hates conflict in their own house. What Ellen needs to feel safe is fairness, softness and a partner in the small decisions. They are at their best when someone else picks the restaurant and they get to enjoy it.

How Ellen wants to be loved

Ellen wants to be loved boldly. Venus in Aries falls fast, says so, and wants you to chase back. Grand gestures land, so does a fight followed by a proper make-up. What bores them is hesitation. Be direct, be a little brave about them, and keep the spark lit on purpose.

How Ellen creates

How Ellen makes things happen: they make things grow. A Yin Earth day master is the garden soil, generous, nourishing, the reason other people's ideas take root. Ellen creates by caring for the thing until it works, and they are often the quiet reason a whole group is thriving. The work is keeping some of that richness for themselves.

Instinct

Instinct: Ellen is wise and watchful, a Snake year, and their gut reaction is to observe before moving. Elegant, intuitive, private, and usually right about people long before saying so. The Metal year sharpens it: principled, determined, clear about what is right.

Purpose

Purpose: Life Path 3 is the creative. Ellen is here to express, to make, to say the thing in a way nobody has said it before. Joy is the work: the writing, the performing, the making people laugh. The lesson is finishing what the spark started.

Triggers

Triggers: being told "because that's how it's done." Mars in Aquarius fights for the idea, the group, the principle, rarely for themselves. Ellen goes cool and distant rather than hot, and then does the surprising thing. Point them at a cause and they will rewrite the rules around it.

Computed from Ellen's birth date. Working below.

Where Ellen sits

Six lines

Ellen’s dot comes from the chart; yours is where you put it.

Intimate circleWide network
Ellen

You likely balance a tight inner circle with a wider orbit you dip into.

DeliberateSpontaneous
Ellen

You may leap first and adjust as you go. Waiting can feel like losing momentum.

PrivateExpressive
Ellen

You may wear your feelings openly. What you feel tends to show.

Cool off firstResolve immediately
Ellen

You may want to resolve tension the moment it appears, rather than let it sit.

PracticalVisionary
Ellen

You likely balance practical steps with room to imagine further.

Gradual trustImmediate chemistry
Ellen

You may feel connection fast. Chemistry can arrive before the details do.

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 Ellen Goodman

Three stars chosen from the real sky above Newton on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.

Ellen’s birth-night reference starTania Australisdeep red · Ursa MajorTania Australis, in Ursa Major. A deep red star, 87° above the horizon at 9 p.m. local time, the bright star nearest the zenith.Dedicate Tania Australis →The warmest lightArcturuswarm orange · BoötesArcturus, in Boötes. A warm orange star, 39° above the horizon at 9 p.m. local time, the warmest-toned bright star up that night.Dedicate Arcturus →

A 9 p.m. reference sky, not the birth minute. Dedications are commemorative and confer no ownership of stars.

The sky over Newton that night

Computed for 42.34°N, 9 p.m. local sky.

At 9 p.m. the star closest to straight overhead at Newton was Tania Australis, in Ursa Major, 87.0° up.

The brightest star above the horizon was Sirius in Canis Major, and 105 catalog stars were up in all.

From 42.3°N not one of the brightest stars stays permanently above the horizon — all of them rise and set.

Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman cannot be seen from Newton at all: they sit past the −47.7° declination limit this latitude imposes.

Sun 26° below the horizon, Moon up and 100% lit at full moon.

How unusual Ellen's chart is

Chart pattern score

12 / 100 · Reassuringly normal

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 →

Ellen Goodman in 15 seconds

Aries Sun

Runs at it head first.

Ellen Goodman's Sun was in Aries for the whole of April 11, 1941, so no birth time is needed to settle it.

What Aries means →

Metal Snake

Wise, cool, hard to read.

Ellen Goodman was born on April 11, 1941, which falls in a Metal Snake year of the Chinese calendar.

What the Snake means →

Life Path 3

The storyteller at the table.

Ellen Goodman's birth date, April 11, 1941, reduces to Life Path 3 under the numerology method AsterNym uses.

What Life Path 3 means →

What stands out in Ellen’s chart

Ellen’s birth chart

Reference chart · birth time unknown

Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 11° to 26° Libra depending on the hour.

AriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoLibraScorpioSagittariusCapricornAquariusPisces123456789101112Moon faces off with Venus · Opposition, 0.5° orbUranus flows with Neptune · Trine, 1.5° orbSun fuses with Venus · Conjunction, 2° orbSun faces off with Moon · Opposition, 2.5° orbMercury flows with Pluto · Trine, 3° orbMercury faces off with Neptune · Opposition, 3.4° orbMars faces off with Pluto · Opposition, 4.3° orbJupiter fuses with Uranus · Conjunction, 4.6° orbSun in Aries · 21°24′☉21°Moon in Libra · 18°53′☽18°Mercury in Pisces · 29°04′☿29°Venus in Aries · 19°26′♀19°Mars in Aquarius · 6°22′♂6°Jupiter in Taurus · 19°35′♃19°Saturn in Taurus · 14°34′♄14°Uranus in Taurus · 24°11′♅24°Neptune in Virgo · 25°39′ · retrograde♆℞25°Pluto in Leo · 2°02′ · retrograde♇℞2°

No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1.

Tap a planet, a sign, a house, an aspect line or an element to see what it means and what sits in it.
Lines drawn
Conjunction 0°
Sextile 60°
Square 90°
Trine 120°
Opposition 180°

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

  • stableMoonoppositionVenus0.0° to 7.5° orb

    Ellen’s feelings pull against their affections from across the wheel. A see-saw looking for balance, often played out through other people.

  • stableUranustrineNeptune1.4° to 1.5° orb

    Ellen’s need for freedom flows straight into their imagination. A talent so smooth it can go unnoticed.

  • stableSunconjunctionVenus1.8° to 2.1° orb

    Ellen’s core identity and affections act as one. Each makes the other louder.

  • stableMercurytrinePluto2.2° to 3.7° orb

  • stableMercuryoppositionNeptune2.6° to 4.2° orb

  • stableMarsoppositionPluto4.0° to 4.7° orb

  • stableJupiterconjunctionUranus4.5° to 4.7° orb

  • stableJupiterconjunctionSaturn5.0° to 5.1° orb

  • stableJupitertrineNeptune5.9° to 6.2° orb

  • possibleSunoppositionMoonorb from 0.1° to 9.6° depending on birth time

  • possibleMercurysextileUranusorb from 4.1° to 5.6° depending on birth time

  • possibleMoontrineMarsorb from 5.3° to 19.8° depending on birth time

Chart signature

Elements

  • Fire3 of 10
  • Earth4 of 10
  • Air2 of 10
  • Water1 of 10

Modalities

  • Cardinal3 of 10
  • Fixed5 of 10
  • Mutable2 of 10

Counted across the ten planets by sign: Earth leads this chart.

Ellen’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith

What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.

  • ⚷ ChironCancer 25°25′ (moves 0.02° over the day)

    centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it

  • ⚳ CeresCapricorn 7°15′ (moves 0.12° over the day)

    dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured

  • ♡ ErosAries 25°44′ (moves 0.76° over the day)

    near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire

  • ⚕ HygieaAries 27°22′ (moves 0.33° over the day)

    main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well

  • ⚸ Black Moon LilithTaurus 3°53′ (moves 0.11° over the day)

    mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed

Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith

  • Chiron sextile Neptune 0.2°
  • Chiron sextile Uranus 1.2°
  • Black Moon Lilith square Pluto 1.8°
  • Black Moon Lilith square Mars 2.5°

Ellen’s dominant planets

  1. 1. ♂ Mars6 pts

    rules the Sun sign, Aries; disposes Sun, Venus; 1 major aspect

  2. 2. ♀ Venus5 pts

    disposes Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus; 2 major aspects

  3. 3. ♆ Neptune4 pts

    disposes Mercury; 3 major aspects

Configurations in Ellen’s chart

No stellium, grand trine, T-square, grand cross, yod or kite — the common case.

Minor aspects

semi-sextile, semi-square, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, quincunx.

  • Venus semi-sextile Jupiter 0.1°
  • Mercury semi-square Saturn 0.5°
  • Jupiter quintile Pluto 0.5°
  • Venus quintile Mars 1.1°
  • Sun semi-sextile Jupiter 1.8°

More people like Ellen

Other writers

Born in United States

More charts like Ellen’s

Fellow Aries suns

All about Aries →

Born in Snake years

Year of the Snake →

Also born on April 11

Fellow Yin Earth day masters

What a Day Master is →

Other Aries Snake charts

Other Steadfast Diplomats

The Steadfast Diplomat explained →

Famous people with Life Path 3

Life Path numbers explained →

From the journal: Your Sun, Moon and rising signs: the Big Three explained · What does Elon Musk say about astrology?

Ellen’s cards

Computed from April 11, 1941. Tap to flip.

Birth tarot card

The World

AsterNym identity card

The Steadfast Diplomat

Western zodiac

Aries

Chinese zodiac

Snake 巳

Life Path

3 · Storyteller

♂ Ruled by Mars

Iron Fe

The working: BaZi pillarsshow

BaZi pillars

Day Master: yin Earth.

Year

辛

yin Metal

巳

Snake

Fire

roots & early life

Month

壬

yang Water

辰

Dragon

Earth

work & drive

Day

day master

己

yin Earth

丑

Ox

Earth

you & partnership

Where this comes from, and how it is worked out

Ellen’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q5364854 (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 Ckcovell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The same Ellen Goodman at Wikipedia.

Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. The full method: how it works.

Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not endorsed by Ellen Goodman.

Quick answers about Ellen Goodman’s chart

How old is Ellen Goodman?
Ellen Goodman is 85 years old, born April 11, 1941 in Newton, United States.
What zodiac sign is Ellen Goodman?
Ellen Goodman is an Aries: born April 11, 1941, which puts the Sun in Aries for the whole of that day.
What is Ellen Goodman's Chinese zodiac animal?
The Snake, with the Metal element, from the Chinese lunar year of the April 11, 1941 birth.
What is Ellen Goodman's Life Path number?
Life Path 3, calculated in numerology.
What is Ellen Goodman's Chiron sign?
Chiron in Cancer at 25°. Position from JPL Horizons.
Where is Ellen Goodman's Black Moon Lilith?
Mean Black Moon Lilith in Taurus at 3°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
What is Ellen Goodman's dominant planet?
Mars, on AsterNym's dominance score (6 points: rules the Sun sign, Aries; disposes Sun, Venus; 1 major aspect). Venus is second and Neptune third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.

More charts to explore