RE: What is the number next to the name denotes in steemit??
I see you don’t have a Steemit Profile Picture I made a contest post on the bottom is link that will teach you, then after you make yours feel free to enter the contest to create mine. here https://steemit.com/contest/@isteemithard/design-isteemithard-a-profile-picture-avatar-contest-11-winner-of-10
Also to answer your question in your post more effectively its a reputation score in the brackets.
What is Reputation?
Every user has a reputation score next to their name. The reputation score is one way Steemit measures the amount of value you have brought to the community. It is also a mechanism that is designed to help reduce abuse of the Steemit platform.
Your reputation goes up when accounts vote on your content. Getting downvoted by someone with a higher reputation can push your reputation down and make your posts less visible.
Users with a lower reputation score are unable to affect your reputation.
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How is the Reputation score measured?
Every new user starts off with a reputation score of 25.
The reputation score is based off of a log10 system, which means that a score of 40 is about 10x better than a score of 30. It can go up or down based on your use and other users upvoting or flagging you.