How We Rank Names

The name finder gives every name a match score from 1 to 99. Here is exactly how that number is made, what the sound scores mean, and where the data comes from. The short version: it compares sounds and numbers, not destinies.

The three sound scores

Every name gets the same three scores from 1 to 5. They mean the same thing on every page, so a 4 on Hazel is a 4 on Theodore.

Soft to strong. 1 is very soft and flowing, with lots of vowels and gentle sounds like L, M and N. 5 is very crisp and strong, with hard sounds like K, T and D and short, clipped endings.
Vintage to modern. 1 is clearly old-fashioned, the kind of name you find on a great-grandparent’s birth record. 5 feels very modern, newly coined or recently borrowed. Classics that never left sit around 2 or 3.
Formal to casual. 1 is formal, the full-length name on a diploma. 5 is very casual, the kind of name that already sounds like a nickname.

These scores are judgment calls. I set them by saying each name out loud, comparing it with names already scored, and checking how style guides describe it. Two people can disagree by a point. They are a tool for sorting, not a fact about the name.

Syllables and popularity

Syllables are counted the common American way. Popularity comes from the U.S. Social Security Administration’s baby name data, which counts every name given to at least five girls or five boys each year. We rank names within each sex by the number of births. Each name page shows its rank in the latest year of data, its best year and a line chart since 1900. Rank 1 is the most common name. A name outside the top 1000 is shown as rare, and years with fewer than five births appear as hollow dots at the bottom of the chart.

How the match score works

Each slider in the finder is compared with one number on the name. The gap between your setting and the name becomes a number from 0 (exact) to 1 (opposite ends). Each gap has a weight, and the weighted gaps are taken off 100.

Style, 30 points: your vintage to modern setting against the name’s vintage to modern score.
Sound, 25 points: your soft to strong setting against the name’s soft to strong score.
Popularity, 20 points: your rare to common setting against how common the name was in the latest year of data. We turn the rank into a 1 to 5 scale on a log curve, so the gap between rank 1 and rank 30 counts about as much as the gap between rank 30 and rank 1000. Names ranked 1000 or lower, and names given to fewer than five babies, count as 1. If we have no popularity data for a name yet, it gets a neutral gap of 0.25 so it is neither pushed up nor buried.
Length, 15 points: the number of syllables you want against the name’s syllables (4 means 4 or more).
Formality, 10 points: your formal to casual setting against the name’s score.

If you type a last name, the finder also checks one simple sound rule: when the first name ends with the same sound the last name starts with, like Rose Sanders, the two run together and the name loses 4 points. It also shows the initials and a short note, for example when both names rhyme or start with the same letter. Your last name never leaves your browser.

Gender, origin and names to avoid are filters, not scores. Picking girl or boy also keeps unisex names in the list. The final score is rounded and kept between 1 and 99, because no list of numbers can call a name perfect.

Names have no destiny

A name’s meaning is history, not a forecast. “Strong” names do not make strong kids and “soft” names do not make shy ones. There is no evidence for name numerology, and we do not use it. The finder only helps you find names that sound the way you like. Say your favorites out loud, with the last name, in a happy voice and a cross one. That test beats any score.

Where the facts come from

Meanings, origins, pronunciation and variants are checked for each name against at least two sources, which are linked at the bottom of every page. When the experts disagree, the page says so. If you spot an error, write to contact@namewren.com and I will fix it.