Investigation :: Combo Flow

Inspiration :: Rose 

Introduction

It is a question that plagues all name-nerds – How do you make a combo flow? Why does Alba Rose sound smooth but Rose Alba sound forced and difficult to say? In search of a foolproof algorithm, I analysed 274 combos from the 'What would be the perfect twin?' thread on Nameberry.

Method

I looked at the first post on each page of the 'What would be the perfect twin?' thread and for each combo mentioned, noted down the number of syllables in the first name and middle name. 

1 Syllable First Names

2 Syllable First Names

3 Syllable First Names

4 Syllable First Names

Conclusion

So – does this mean that four syllable first names should have two syllable middle names or that two syllable middle names should be used with one syllable first names? But this often doesn’t work. In the case of the example I started with (Rose Alba), this rule would be useless.

However, it is interesting to see the general patterns:

§  1 syllable names usually have a longer middle name of two or three syllables.

§  2 syllable names have a more variety of syllables in middle names.

§  3 syllable names have middle names with two or one syllable/s.

§  2 syllable middle names are very popular with 4 syllable first names.

In a future post, I am going to extend the investigation by repeating the method but including data about where the emphasis falls in a name. I think this may be the next clue in the search for the guidelines of flow.