Name Compatibility
A compatibility score and reading from two people’s names.
A traditional name-matching game that interleaves the strokes of two names to produce a compatibility score. The two names are laid out one character at a time in alternation, neighbouring numbers are added and the row shortens, and the final two digits are read as the score. It is exactly the game people played on paper, not a Saju-based reading. Since the result follows from letter counts and stroke counts, take it as a bit of fun.
How it works
The two names are interleaved letter by letter, neighboring stroke counts are added, and the result is reduced down to two digits — the name-match game people have played for generations. Names outside Korean are scored by letter value.
What you'll get
You see the score the two names make and the reading for that band, how love tends to run, what working together feels like, and how each treats money. When both names are written in Hangul, the core element of each name and how the two sit together are shown as well.
What this game actually calculates
Lay the two names out one character at a time in alternation, add each neighbouring pair and reduce. The characters sitting nearer the middle weigh most heavily on the final score, because the middle values get carried into several sums along the way. So this is settled arithmetic rather than chance, and the same names in the same places always give the same score. Work it through on paper by hand and the result comes out identical.
The same two people get several different scores
Including or leaving out the family name changes the score, using a nickname changes it, and swapping the order of the two names changes it too. A different name then ends up occupying the heavier middle positions. So there is no answer to the question of which score is the real one. Agreeing on a rule between you, looking once and leaving the result where it fell is truer to how the game was played.
Why this game has lasted so long
Paper and a pen are all it takes, and the game had already begun the moment you wrote down the name of someone you liked. Counting the strokes and adding the numbers, what passed between you and the person beside you was more fun than the outcome. Moving it to a screen loses that part, so after checking your score here, working it through on paper by hand brings the original pleasure back.
When a low score makes you want another go
Drop the family name, use a nickname, swap the order, and the score shifts as much as you like. Changing the rule until a high number turns up stops being a compatibility reading and becomes picking a number you find agreeable. Better to look once under the rule you set at the start and close it, and if it came out low, looking at how you felt in that moment leaves you more than the number does.
Do not settle a relationship with this score
What this game looks at is not two people but the character counts and stroke counts of two names. Change a name and the score changes, and anyone else with the same name gets the same score. We would not suggest calling off a meeting or making up your mind on a value of that sort. Writing two names side by side and laughing together, the place this game has always occupied, still suits it now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it work with names not written in hangul?
Yes. Names in the Latin alphabet are scored by letter value. That said, the hangul version, which uses stroke counts, is closer to the traditional method.
Can I use nicknames?
Yes. It is a game played with the names people actually call each other, so whatever you two use is fine.
Can I enter given names only, without surnames?
Yes. The result does differ with and without the surname, so it is best to enter both names the same way. Traditionally people used the name they were actually called by.
How are the strokes counted?
For Hangul, the strokes of each consonant and vowel are counted and summed per character. For anything else the character values stand in, so Latin-script names produce a result too.