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| 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
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.
