Take Daniel and four ways of writing Elizabeth: Elizabeth, Eliza, Beth and Liz. Run each one against Daniel and you get 59%, 46%, 36% and 33%, with FLAMES answering E, F, A and F. Same two people, four verdicts. That spread is the whole story behind choosing a name for a name compatibility test.
These games count letters. They never meet the people behind them, so the name you type is the only input that matters, and a changed spelling is a different game. Below is what each method reads, how much a surname, a hyphen or an accent moves the result, and the rules I follow so the comparison is at least fair.
Same Daniel, four spellings
| Spelling | Letters left | FLAMES | LOVES | Pythagorean | Chaldean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | 7 | E | 59% | 43 to 7 | 33/6 |
| Eliza | 3 | F | 46% | 26 to 8 | 17/8 |
| Beth | 8 | A | 36% | 17 to 8 | 16/7 |
| Liz | 5 | F | 33% | 20 to 2 | 11/2 |
Daniel stays the same throughout: 27 reduces to 9 in the Pythagorean system and he is 19/1 in Chaldean. Only the right-hand name changes, and every column moves.
Nothing is wrong with any of these rows. Each spelling leaves a different number of letters after the shared ones are struck, and that number drives everything else. Read the swing as a reason not to quote one result as if it described the pair.
Which method reads which name
| Method | What it counts | What I type |
|---|---|---|
| FLAMES | Every letter, to get the count of leftovers | The names your group would write on the page, in the same form for both people |
| LOVES percentage | Only the letters l, o, v, e, s, but every extra word adds some | Same as FLAMES; first names keep loops rare |
| Pythagorean name number | Every letter, with a value from 1 to 9 | The name on the birth certificate, which is the tradition |
| Chaldean name number | Every letter, with a value from 1 to 8 | The name the person goes by day to day |
The last two rows follow the convention described in the Pythagorean and Chaldean calculation guide: Pythagorean practice uses the birth name, while Chaldean practice uses the name someone is actually called. That is a real reason to type different names for the two systems, and the calculator lets you do so on separate runs.
Surnames and middle names
Surnames add letters, and letters change the leftovers count and the l, o, v, e, s tally. Alice and Bob give 54%. Give Bob a surname and everything moves.
| Names | Letters left | FLAMES | LOVES rows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alice + Bob | 8 | A | 11010, 2111, 322, 54% |
| Alice + Bob Jones | 11 | M | 12021, 3223, 545, 99% |
| Alice Smith + Bob | 13 | A | 11011, 2112, 323, 55% |
| Alice Smith + Bob Jones | 14 | F | 12022, 3224, 546, 910, 101, 11% |
JONES contributes an O, an E and an S to the tally; SMITH contributes an S. Jones alone moved the percentage from 54% to 99%, and adding both surnames dropped it to 11%. The people did not change. The study behind the LOVES game observed that surnames also make endless loops more likely, which is why first names are the safer default; read the Endless love paper if you want the detail, or my write-up of how love calculators work.
The one thing I would never do is mix forms. Typing a full name for one person and a first name for the other pits a dozen-odd letters against a handful and makes the comparison meaningless.
Hyphens, spaces and apostrophes
Only letters count, so Mary-Jane is the eight letters MARYJANE, and O'Brien is OBRIEN. Whether you include the second half of a double-barrelled name is your choice, but it matters.
| Typed as | Letters left | FLAMES | LOVES | Pythagorean | Chaldean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mary-Jane | 9 | E | 39% | 33 (master) | 20/2 |
| Mary | 7 | E | 26% | 21 to 3 | 8 |
Peter is 28 reducing to 1 in Pythagorean and 24/6 in Chaldean in both rows. The FLAMES letter agrees here by luck. The percentage and both name numbers do not.
Accents, ß and other alphabets
Accents change spelling but not the base letter, so a fair tool folds them: é counts as E, ü as U, ß as SS, ø as O, ł as L, and ligatures such as æ and œ expand to two letters. José is counted as JOSE. A tool that quietly deletes the accented letter sees JOS instead, and the result changes completely: in Chaldean, JOSE is 16/7 where JOS is 11/2.
There is a second decision hiding inside German names. Jürgen folds to JURGEN, but many people write the same name as Juergen. Against Renée (counted as RENEE) the two spellings behave very differently.
| Typed as | Counted as | Letters left | FLAMES | LOVES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jürgen | JURGEN | 5 | F | 53% |
| Juergen | JUERGEN | 4 | E | 28% |
Pick the spelling that appears in the person's own writing, use it on every run, and use the same convention for both people. For names written in another script, such as Cyrillic or Greek, type a Latin spelling; the calculator asks for one rather than guessing. Many such names have more than one common Latin form, so settle on one and stay with it.
My rules for choosing
- Use the same kind of name for both people: two first names, two full names, or two nicknames. Never one of each.
- For FLAMES and the LOVES percentage, type what you would write on the page when playing with friends. First names are the cleanest choice.
- For Pythagorean numbers, use the birth name. For Chaldean numbers, use the everyday name.
- Check the "counted as" line before you trust a result. It shows exactly which letters the calculator used.
- Try a second version of a name if you are curious, then keep both results. Do not pick whichever flatters you.
- Do not compare numbers from different sites unless you know both typed the same letters. See how to play FLAMES for the paper rules behind that count.
The name compatibility calculator shows its folded letters and every step, so you can do this check in a few seconds.
FAQ
Should I use my full name or first name?
Use the same kind of name for both people. First names keep FLAMES and the LOVES percentage simple; for Pythagorean numerology use the birth name, and for Chaldean use the name you go by every day.
Does a nickname change the result?
Yes. Every letter feeds the count, so Elizabeth, Eliza, Beth and Liz give four different results against the same partner.
Do accents, hyphens and spaces count?
Hyphens, spaces and apostrophes are ignored, and accented letters are folded to their base letter (José is counted as JOSE). Spelling out ü as ue does change the letters counted.
Why does adding a surname change my percentage so much?
A surname adds letters to the leftover count and may add letters to the l, o, v, e, s tally, so the whole game restarts on different numbers.
