AsterNymAsterNym
Portrait of Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman (born July 20, 1953, St. Louis Park, United States), aged 73, is an American journalist and author. Friedman is best known for Friedman Unit and The World Is brow. Friedman's honours include Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and National Book Award.

Thomas Friedman’s zodiac sign is Cancer, Chinese zodiac is Water Snake, with Life Path 9 in numerology.

Your match with Thomas

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

Thomas Friedman’s AsterNym identity

The Tidal Visionary

Water represents depth and adaptability. Water-led charts are associated with instinct, memory and the ability to find a path around obstacles. Life Path 9 represents compassion: generosity, completion and the ability to consider more than one person’s experience.

Water Day Master (BaZi) × cardinal Sun × Life Path 9, on the intuitive plane.

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

#34

US rank in 2025

~2,367,087

Americans share it since 1880

1952

its peak year

In 1953, 47,008 American boys and 98 girls were registered Thomas — 8th among boys and 967th among girls on the SSA's list that year.

US Social Security Administration public records

What Thomas’s name adds up to

Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.

11

Expression · sensing what is coming

4

Soul Urge · solid ground

7

Personality · composed, private

The name opens on T (2) and closes on S (1). Two values tie for most repeated, 1 and 4: drive against craft.

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

Thomas’s lucky numbers, colours and stones

Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.

Lucky numbers

9 · 2 · 8

Lucky colours

Blue & Black

Lucky day

Monday

Direction

↑ North

Season

winter

Stones

Ruby, Pearl, Aquamarine

Flower constellation

💠 Larkspur · 🤍 Jasmine · 🪷 Lotus

Sky blue · Pearl · Soft pink

Eight Mansions · Kua number

Kua 1, trigram Kan 坎, East group. Best direction Southeast, worst West.

A different tradition from the Direction above, and a different question: feng shui reads it from the solar year 1953, 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 Thomas apart

The World Is brow and Friedman Unit. That is the work the name is attached to.

Thomas Friedman was taught at St Antony's College and St. Louis Park High School.

Joseph Bathanti shares the birth date exactly, so the chart below is nearly the same document for them both. What follows the chart is where they part.

Known for
The World Is brow and Friedman Unit
Educated at
St Antony's College, St. Louis Park High School and University of Minnesota
Awards
National Book Award (1989), George Polk Award (1982) and Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting (1988)
Citizenship
United States
Languages
English
Wikipedia editions
46

What the chart says

Thomas, according to the stars

Core essence

Thomas feels the room before entering it. The core of Thomas is care, the practical kind that remembers what you said in March and has already made the tea. They protect their people with a fierceness that surprises anyone who only knew the soft exterior. Home is not a place for Thomas, it is whoever they have decided to keep.

The vibe

Underneath, Thomas feels more than they will ever show, and shows it to about three people. The Moon in Scorpio is deep water: loyal, private, slow to trust and impossible to fool. What Thomas needs to feel safe is total honesty and the sense that a secret told stays told. Betray that once and it is a long way back.

How Thomas wants to be loved

Thomas wants to be loved in conversation. Venus in Gemini falls for a mind first: the banter, the shared joke, the person who keeps them guessing a little. Attention is the love language and boredom is the enemy. Keep talking to Thomas like it is the first week, and it can feel like it for years.

How Thomas creates

How Thomas makes things happen: they keep moving. A Yang Water day master is the river, curious, restless, going somewhere even when nobody knows where. Thomas 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: Thomas 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 Water year softens it: intuitive, adaptable, feeling their way through people.

Purpose

Purpose: Life Path 9 is the humanitarian. Thomas is here for the bigger picture, to give, to finish what others started and hand it on. Wise beyond their years, compassionate, a little world-weary, and learning to receive as freely as they give.

Triggers

Triggers: feeling unsafe, or seeing their people treated badly. Mars in Cancer means Thomas does not fight for themselves easily but will go to war for someone they love. The anger comes out sideways at first, then all at once. Protectiveness is the whole engine.

Computed from Thomas's birth date. Working below.

Where Thomas sits

Six lines

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

Intimate circleWide network
Thomas

You may run on a few close bonds rather than a crowd. Depth is your default.

DeliberateSpontaneous
Thomas

You likely weigh most decisions but can move fast when it matters.

PrivateExpressive
Thomas

You may keep feelings close, working through them before anyone sees.

Cool off firstResolve immediately
Thomas

You likely handle some friction right away and let smaller things settle.

PracticalVisionary
Thomas

You may be drawn to big possibilities. The practical follows after the vision.

Gradual trustImmediate chemistry
Thomas

You likely warm up at a pace that depends on the person and moment.

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 Thomas Friedman

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

Thomas’s birth-night reference starEdasichwarm orange · DracoEdasich, in Draco. A warm orange star, 75.6° above the horizon at 9 p.m. local time, the bright star nearest the zenith.Dedicate Edasich →The warmest lightAntaresdeep red · ScorpiusAntares, in Scorpius. A deep red star, 18° above the horizon at 9 p.m. local time, the warmest-toned bright star up that night.Dedicate Antares →

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

The sky over St. Louis Park that night

Computed for 44.95°N, 9 p.m. local sky.

Edasich stood nearest the zenith over St. Louis Park at 9 p.m. that evening, 75.6° above the horizon in Draco.

Arcturus was the brightest thing up that night, one of 85 catalog stars above the horizon.

At 44.9°N there are stars that never set at all. Capella and Deneb stay up year round.

Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman cannot be seen from St. Louis Park at all: they sit past the −45.1° declination limit this latitude imposes.

The Moon was at first quarter, 68% lit, and above the horizon, with the Sun 1° down.

How unusual Thomas's chart is

Chart pattern score

53 / 100 · Unusual

3-planet stellium in Cancer · A bowl chart · No Earth planets

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 →

Thomas Friedman at a glance

Cancer Sun

Hard shell, soft centre.

Thomas Friedman's Sun was in Cancer for the whole of July 20, 1953, so no birth time is needed to settle it.

What Cancer means →

Water Snake

Watches. Waits. Then precisely.

Thomas Friedman was born on July 20, 1953, which falls in a Water Snake year of the Chinese calendar.

What the Snake means →

Life Path 9

Carries the whole room's weight.

Thomas Friedman's birth date, July 20, 1953, reduces to Life Path 9 under the numerology method AsterNym uses.

What Life Path 9 means →

What stands out in Thomas’s chart

Thomas’s birth chart

Reference chart · birth time unknown

Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 8° to 20° Scorpio depending on the hour.

AriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoLibraScorpioSagittariusCapricornAquariusPisces123456789101112Saturn fuses with Neptune · Conjunction, 0° orbNeptune opens doors for Pluto · Sextile, 0.9° orbSaturn opens doors for Pluto · Sextile, 1° orbSaturn grinds against Uranus · Square, 1.8° orbUranus grinds against Neptune · Square, 1.9° orbVenus fuses with Jupiter · Conjunction, 2.2° orbMars grinds against Saturn · Square, 2.9° orbMars grinds against Neptune · Square, 2.9° orbSun in Cancer · 27°40′☉27°Moon in Scorpio · 14°43′☽14°Mercury in Leo · 5°21′ · retrograde☿℞5°Venus in Gemini · 14°07′♀14°Mars in Cancer · 24°06′♂24°Jupiter in Gemini · 16°17′♃16°Saturn in Libra · 21°09′♄21°Uranus in Cancer · 19°20′♅19°Neptune in Libra · 21°11′♆21°Pluto in Leo · 22°06′♇22°

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

  • stableSaturnconjunctionNeptune0.0° to 0.1° orb

    Thomas’s discipline and imagination act as one. Each makes the other louder.

  • stableNeptunesextilePluto0.9° orb

    Thomas’s imagination opens doors for their depths. An easy alliance, and it pays off when it is used.

  • stableSaturnsextilePluto1.0° orb

    Thomas’s discipline opens doors for their depths. Nothing happens until someone makes the first move.

  • stableVenusconjunctionJupiter1.7° to 2.6° orb

  • stableSaturnsquareUranus1.8° orb

  • stableUranussquareNeptune1.8° to 1.9° orb

  • stableMarssquareSaturn2.6° to 3.3° orb

  • stableMarssquareNeptune2.6° to 3.2° orb

  • stableSunconjunctionMars3.4° to 3.7° orb

  • stableMarsconjunctionUranus4.5° to 5.1° orb

  • stableJupitertrineSaturn4.8° to 4.9° orb

  • stableJupitertrineNeptune4.8° to 5.0° orb

Chart signature

Elements

  • Fire2 of 10
  • Earth0 of 10
  • Air4 of 10
  • Water4 of 10

Modalities

  • Cardinal5 of 10
  • Fixed3 of 10
  • Mutable2 of 10

Counted across the ten planets by sign, with no planets in Earth signs.

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

What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.

  • ⚷ Chiron ℞Capricorn 17°33′ (moves 0.06° over the day)

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

  • ⚳ CeresLeo 2°03′ (moves 0.45° over the day)

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

  • ♡ ErosTaurus 26°12′ (moves 0.74° over the day)

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

  • ⚕ HygieaCancer 3°54′ (moves 0.32° over the day)

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

  • ⚸ Black Moon LilithVirgo 23°18′ (moves 0.11° over the day)

    mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed

Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith

  • Black Moon Lilith sextile Mars 0.8°
  • Eros sextile Sun 1.5°
  • Chiron opposition Uranus 1.8°
  • Eros sextile Mars 2.1°

Thomas’s dominant planets

  1. 1. ☽ Moon6 pts

    rules the Sun sign, Cancer; disposes Sun, Mars, Uranus

  2. 2. ♄ Saturn6 pts

    6 major aspects

  3. 3. ♆ Neptune6 pts

    6 major aspects

Configurations in Thomas’s chart

  • stellium, the shape it makesStellium in Cancer · Sun, Mars, UranusThree or more planets in one sign (four, or three with a luminary, by AsterNym's count): a concentration astrologers read as that sign's themes dominating the chart.

Minor aspects

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

  • Sun semi-square Venus 1.5°
  • Mars semi-sextile Pluto 2.0°

Born the same day as Thomas

Joseph Bathanti was born on July 20, 1953 too, the same date and the same year. With no birth time for any of them the chart is identical, not similar: the same Sun, the same pillars, the same Life Path. What the chart cannot reach is the birthplace. At 44.9°N, St. Louis Park keeps Capella and Deneb above the horizon every night of the year. Same sky, different lives.

More people like Thomas

Other screenwriters

Born in United States

More charts like Thomas’s

Fellow Cancer suns

All about Cancer →

Born in Snake years

Year of the Snake →

Also born on July 20

Fellow Yang Water day masters

What a Day Master is →

Other Cancer Snake charts

Other Tidal Visionarys

The Tidal Visionary explained →

Famous people with Life Path 9

Life Path numbers explained →

From the journal: Flying Star feng shui: the one that changes with time · What is a birth chart? How the chart is calculated

Thomas’s cards

Computed from July 20, 1953. Tap to flip.

Birth tarot card

The Moon

AsterNym identity card

The Tidal Visionary

Western zodiac

Cancer

Chinese zodiac

Snake 巳

Life Path

9 · Healer

☾ Ruled by Moon

Silver Ag

The working: BaZi pillarsshow

BaZi pillars

Day Master: yang Water.

Year

癸

yin Water

巳

Snake

Fire

roots & early life

Month

己

yin Earth

未

Goat

Earth

work & drive

Day

day master

壬

yang Water

申

Monkey

Metal

you & partnership

Where this comes from, and how it is worked out

Thomas’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q310950 (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 Charles Haynes, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The same Thomas Friedman at Wikipedia, IMDb, X and MusicBrainz.

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

Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not endorsed by Thomas Friedman.

Quick answers about Thomas Friedman’s chart

How old is Thomas Friedman?
Thomas Friedman is 73 years old, born July 20, 1953 in St. Louis Park, United States.
What zodiac sign is Thomas Friedman?
Thomas Friedman is a Cancer: born July 20, 1953, which puts the Sun in Cancer for the whole of that day.
What is Thomas Friedman's Chinese zodiac animal?
The Snake, with the Water element, from the Chinese lunar year of the July 20, 1953 birth.
What is Thomas Friedman's Life Path number?
Life Path 9, calculated in numerology.
What is Thomas Friedman's Chiron sign?
Chiron in Capricorn at 17°. Position from JPL Horizons.
Where is Thomas Friedman's Black Moon Lilith?
Mean Black Moon Lilith in Virgo at 23°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
What is Thomas Friedman's dominant planet?
Moon, on AsterNym's dominance score (6 points: rules the Sun sign, Cancer; disposes Sun, Mars, Uranus). Saturn is second and Neptune third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.

More charts to explore