Based
on Revelation 13:18 and the number of the beast being 666, I’ve heard people
claim that the Antichrist is everybody from the Pope to Henry Kissinger
to Mikhail Gorbachev to Madonna . . . you name ‘em! How do they figure this,
and how can we know the truth? 
The
Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, each one having a corresponding numerical
value. Therefore, one can find out the number of a name – the number
of the beast (Rev. 13:18) – simply by adding the value of each Hebrew
letter of a particular name. Obviously, there are many names that total
666. Keep in mind that the person meeting the 666 requirement must also
meet the criteria of being a world ruler.
At any rate, I think it is a bit early to speculate on the identity of the Antichrist, as he will not even appear on the scene until after we have a one-world government followed by a ten-nation division, according to the Scriptures. [A much more detailed study of this issue is included in Dr. Fruchtenbaum’s book, The Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events]. By the way, none of the names most frequently mentioned in this regard meet the 666 numerical criteria.