Children lines on the palm: what the tradition says

Can palm lines tell how many children you will have?

No. No line on your palm can show whether you will have children, how many, or a child’s sex or health. That depends on life, health and choice, not on lines.

That answer comes first because it matters most. If you have questions about fertility or pregnancy, a doctor can help; a line on your hand can’t.

Children lines are tiny creases under the little finger. They can’t tell if, when or how many.

What you see

You can see a few fine upright lines under your little finger.

What the tradition says

Cheiro read upright lines above the marriage line as children, and counted them. Markun (1927) repeats the same kind of rules.

What it can’t tell you

No line can tell whether you’ll have children or how many, a child’s sex, or anything about their health. That depends on life, health and choice.

Where do palmistry books place the children lines?

The books agree on the area but not on every detail. Here is where each one looks:

• Cheiro (1900, 1916): fine upright lines rising from the middle or end of a marriage line, on the mount of Mercury under the little finger.
• Cheiro’s Guide to the Hand (1900): sometimes the upright lines grow from the heart line instead.
• Heron-Allen (1885): upright lines on the outer edge of the mount of Mercury.
• Varahamihira’s Brihat Samhita, a Sanskrit text of the 6th century, part of the Samudrika Shastra tradition: lines below the thumb, far from the little finger.

So even the old texts don’t share one place. The marriage lines these sit on are explained in our marriage line guide.

Children line types and what the books say

The cards show the two forms Cheiro describes. Each is a drawing of the palm’s edge under the little finger, not a real hand.

Where do your children lines start?

• Upright lines above the marriage line

  What Cheiro called children lines. They can’t tell if or how many.

  Do you have this? Do tiny upright lines rise from or just above a marriage line?

  What the books say

  Cheiro reads fine upright lines from a marriage line as children, and counts them from the edge of the hand inwards. He also read their sex and health from how deep or wavy they are. We don’t repeat any of it: these are creases, and no crease can show a child to come.

  Source: Cheiro (1916, 1900); Leo Markun (1927)

• Upright lines rising from the heart line

  Cheiro: a strong love of children, and a wish for them.

  Do you have this? Do the tiny upright lines start on your heart line instead?

  What the books say

  In Cheiro’s Guide to the Hand (1900), upright lines that grow from the heart line show an intense love of children and a wish for them. That reading is about a person’s feelings, not a forecast. We keep it only as a tendency: how much children matter to you.

  Source: Cheiro (1900)

Children lines for women and men

The lines are read the same way for everyone here. Cheiro says they are usually clearer on a woman’s hand. On a man’s hand, he reads clear lines as a great fondness for children and a warm, loving nature.

Markun (1927) reports the same rules and adds that the lines should be sought on women’s hands. We don’t read anyone’s future from them, on any hand. Which hand to read covers the hands in general.

Can a phone photo show children lines?

Rarely. Cheiro says a magnifying glass is often needed to see them, and his Language of the Hand says some are so fine that a microscope is needed. A phone photo usually can’t show lines that small, so the PalmSays app leaves them out.

To look for your own, use bright daylight and press the skin gently, as Cheiro suggested. Seeing none means nothing about children.

Children lines vs marriage lines

The two sit together on the edge of the palm under the little finger. Marriage lines run in from the edge, lying across the hand. Children lines stand upright on or just above them.

What palmistry does read for how you relate to people is the heart line. More about the small lines of the palm is on our page about the lines on your palm, and the method is in how to read palm lines.

Myths about children lines

MythThe number of lines is the number of children you will have.

Reality

No line can count children, past or future. Old books did count these lines; we don’t, because a crease can’t foresee a child.

MythDeep lines mean boys and faint lines mean girls.

Reality

That rule is in Cheiro’s books, and it has nothing behind it. No line can show a child’s sex.

MythNo children lines means no children.

Reality

These lines are so fine that many hands seem to have none. That says nothing about whether you will have children.