Ethel Merman’s birth chart
Born 16 January 1908, in Astoria, New York. StarMap has no verified birth time yet.
Capricorn Sun · Moon in Gemini or Cancer
Ethel Merman’s zodiac sign and chart, in brief
Ethel Merman was born on Thursday, 16 January 1908, in Astoria, New York. That made Ethel a Capricorn. The Moon changed sign at about 01:45, from Gemini to Cancer; which of the two is the Moon sign depends on the hour of birth. Ethel died on 15 February 1984, aged 76. No verified birth time is on file for Ethel; the chart is cast for midday, without houses.
Of the nine planets whose sign does not depend on the birth time, three are in earth signs, two in fire, two in air and two in water. Across cardinal, fixed and mutable signs the split is five, two and two. Sun, Mercury and Uranus all fall in Capricorn. The tightest aspect is Saturn square Pluto, about 0.2° from exact at midday. Aspects to the Moon are not counted, because the Moon moves about thirteen degrees in a day. Three planets were retrograde: Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. The Moon was waxing gibbous, between first quarter and full.
StarMap's dataset holds 15 other people born on 16 January, among them Susan Sontag, Jennie and Aaliyah. Wikidata links Ethel with one person in the dataset: Ernest Borgnine (married in 1964).
See the sky the day Ethel was born: the stars over Astoria, New York, drawn as a star map with the date and the place beneath.
Ethel Merman’s Sun, Moon and rising sign
Sun sign
Capricorn
about 25° Capricorn at midday
A Capricorn Sun endures. Ambition, patience and a dry sense of humour are what tend to carry Ethel Merman up long slopes other people give up on. The placement learns, eventually, that rest is part of the climb.
Moon sign
Gemini or Cancer
Gemini until about 01:45, then Cancer (local time). Which one depends on a birth time StarMap does not have.
Born before about 01:45: Moon in Gemini
The Moon in Gemini processes feeling by naming it. For Ethel, talking, writing and switching perspective are likely ways to settle, and silence can make small worries loud. They probably need people who let them think out loud.
Born after about 01:45: Moon in Cancer
The Moon is at home in Cancer. For Ethel that points to feelings that are tidal, strong and closely tied to the people they love, and to a memory for how everything felt. This Moon is restored by home, by cooking, and by being needed.
Rising sign
The rising sign changes about every two hours, so it cannot be known without a birth time. The table below shows which sign was rising over Astoria, New York, at each hour of the day.
Ethel Merman’s rising sign, by birth time
StarMap has not verified a birth time for Ethel yet. It shows a birth time only when Astro-Databank rates it AA, A or B on the Rodden scale (AA from a birth certificate or record, A from the person, someone close to them or a news report, B from a biography). Until then, this is the rising sign for every possible time of birth on 16 January 1908, computed for Astoria, New York.
| Born around (local time) | Rising sign |
|---|---|
| 00:00 to 00:50 | Libra rising |
| 00:50 to 03:25 | Scorpio rising |
| 03:25 to 05:45 | Sagittarius rising |
| 05:45 to 07:40 | Capricorn rising |
| 07:40 to 09:05 | Aquarius rising |
| 09:05 to 10:20 | Pisces rising |
| 10:20 to 11:30 | Aries rising |
| 11:30 to 12:55 | Taurus rising |
| 12:55 to 14:50 | Gemini rising |
| 14:50 to 17:10 | Cancer rising |
| 17:10 to 19:45 | Leo rising |
| 19:45 to 22:15 | Virgo rising |
| 22:15 to 24:00 | Libra rising |
Times are rounded to five minutes. Close to a boundary, a few minutes either way change the answer.
The chart wheel
Drawn for midday on 16 January 1908, with only the aspects that held all day. The Moon may stand up to eight degrees either side of where it is drawn. How to read a chart wheel
Placements
| Sun | 25° Capricorn 11' |
|---|---|
| Moon | Gemini until about 01:45, then Cancer |
| Mercury | 26° Capricorn 36' |
| Venus | 25° Aquarius 13' |
| Mars | 3° Aries 52' |
| Jupiter | 10° Leo 19'℞ |
| Saturn | 23° Pisces 01' |
| Uranus | 13° Capricorn 32' |
| Neptune | 13° Cancer 09'℞ |
| Pluto | 23° Gemini 13'℞ |
| North Node | 14° Cancer 19' |
| South Node | 14° Capricorn 19' |
Positions at midday, local time. Without a birth time there are no houses.
Ethel Merman’s planets, sign by sign
Each planet by sign: what the placement is traditionally taken to mean, not a claim about Ethel Merman’s private life.
With the Sun in Capricorn, Ethel Merman is likely to find purpose in building a reputation and a structure that will outlast them, with a vitality that is steady rather than showy. The trap can be measuring their worth by output alone. They may well work through tiredness instead of naming it, until someone else has to point it out.
Moon in Gemini or Cancer
Gemini until about 01:45, then Cancer
needs and habits
Born before about 01:45: Moon in Gemini
The Moon in Gemini runs its daily habits on conversation and mental stimulation, and Ethel is likely to settle by talking a worry through rather than sitting with it quietly. A day with no one to talk to can leave them restless. The habit is to message a friend the moment something comes to mind, before deciding what to think about it.
Born after about 01:45: Moon in Cancer
With the Moon in Cancer, Ethel's needs tend to be tied to home, routine and the people they check in on daily. Small rituals are steadying: a particular meal, a particular chair. The tension is reading other people's moods so closely that those moods can be taken on without noticing.
Mercury in Capricorn thinks methodically, and Ethel tends to communicate in a measured, practical way that people trust. The focus on a useful conclusion can be so strong that ideas which have not yet proven their worth are dismissed. Ethel will often get straight to the point in a conversation other people expected to be casual.
Venus in Aquarius loves as a friend first, and values independence, shared ideas and a partner who allows plenty of room. Ethel may keep just enough distance that closeness feels slightly out of reach, even to them. This Venus can prize a partner's individuality more than the intimacy between them.
For Ethel, Mars in Aries points to acting immediately and decisively, with anger that tends to flare fast, hot and honest before it clears. The downside is acting before a situation has been thought all the way through. The argument or the project tends to start the second the impulse arrives, with little patience for waiting.
Jupiter in Leo
10° Leo 19' at midday ℞
growth and excess
Jupiter in Leo grows through creative confidence and a willingness to take up space. For Ethel the overreach may be overselling their own contribution or expecting more credit than a situation calls for. There is a natural showmanship here that lifts a room, and occasionally a story that grows a little in the retelling.
Saturn in Pisces builds discipline around boundaries, and it usually starts from a habit of carrying feelings that belong to other people. For Ethel, the doubt is likely to take the form of guilt for protecting their own time and energy. What this Saturn works towards is a quiet, mature compassion, once it is clear that a boundary and a closed heart are not the same thing.
Uranus in Capricorn
13° Capricorn 32' at midday
freedom, generational
Many people within a few years of Ethel's age share Uranus in Capricorn, the mark of a generation that dismantles and rebuilds old institutions and structures of authority. Personally, that can mean scepticism towards any system that asks for trust without having shown why it deserves it.
Neptune in Cancer
13° Cancer 09' at midday ℞
imagination, generational
Neptune in Cancer is shared by Ethel and many people born in the same decade or so. The generation idealises home and family, often carrying a wider nostalgia for a version of belonging that may never quite have existed. Personally it can be a soft-focus longing for a childhood home.
Pluto in Gemini
23° Gemini 13' at midday ℞
power, generational
Ethel shares Pluto in Gemini with many people born in the same long stretch of years. That generation transforms communication and collective thought, often through upheavals in how information is controlled and shared. The personal portion is an intense relationship with what counts as truth.
Aspects in Ethel Merman’s chart
How the planets stand to each other, tightest first. Without a birth time the orbs are those at midday, and aspects to the Moon are left out because the Moon moves about thirteen degrees in a day.
Saturn square Pluto
about 0.2° at midday
Saturn square Pluto sets the need for control against the instinct for transformation, and Ethel Merman may grip a structure most tightly at the very moment it needs to change. Each old form that is let go leaves a strength behind that is more real than the grip was.
Sun conjunction Mercury
about 1.4° at midday
With the Sun conjunct Mercury, Ethel's sense of self and way of thinking are fused, so an opinion can feel like a statement of who they are. They are likely to speak their mind readily, and telling a passing thought apart from their identity is a practice worth keeping up.
Venus trine Pluto
about 2.0° at midday
With Venus trine Pluto, affection and the capacity for change tend to strengthen each other in Ethel's chart, the kind of pairing that gives relationships staying power through hard times. Depth can arrive here without constant upheaval, and that is rarer, and more durable, than the intensity some people mistake for closeness.
Sun sextile Saturn
about 2.2° at midday
Steady, unglamorous effort is likely to feel worthwhile to Ethel rather than draining, because it fits their sense of who they are. Consistency probably comes more easily to them than they give themselves credit for, especially once they stop waiting for permission to claim it.
Mercury sextile Saturn
about 3.6° at midday
Turning a loose idea into something solid is easier with Mercury sextile Saturn, because Ethel's thinking and sense of structure work together. The clarity is quiet and practical, and it shows most when a plan has to work.
Mars trine Jupiter
about 6.5° at midday
Mars trine Jupiter lets drive and a sense of possibility work as one, and in Ethel's chart the pattern favours confident, well-timed action towards the goals that matter to them. A first move under this trine tends to open a door, largely because it is made with conviction and at a sensible moment.
One more aspect, listed without a reading. It is between two of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, whose aspects hold for years at a time, so everyone born while it holds shares it.
- Uranus opposition Neptuneabout 0.4°
Ethel Merman in couples
Relationships as Wikidata records them, each with the match between the two charts.
Capricorn Suns born within 2 years of Ethel Merman
Also born on 16 January
How this page is made
Planet positions are computed with the astronomy-engine ephemeris and checked against Swiss Ephemeris. Birth dates and places come from Wikidata; birth times, where StarMap has one, come from Astro-Databank and are shown with their Rodden rating. The readings describe what a placement is traditionally taken to mean. They are written by StarMap for reflection and entertainment, not as statements about the person’s private life. New to charts? How to read a birth chart.
Birth data: Wikidata. StarMap has not verified a birth time yet. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on the file page).
StarMap is for entertainment and self-reflection. It does not predict health, money or legal outcomes.