How this test works out your compatibility
This test is meant for two, or for one person thinking about someone. It asks for four things: your two first names and your two zodiac signs. The signs are compared in pairs with astrology (an Aries with a Libra, for example), and the names with numerology, which gives every letter a number.
The final score mixes both: 60% for the signs and 40% for the names. Next to it you see the score for the signs and the one for the names, each with a short text. That way you know straight away where the result comes from.
First name numerology, letter by letter
In numerology, every letter is worth a number from 1 to 9. A is 1, B is 2, and so on up to I, which is 9. Then you start again at 1 with J, and once more with S. This is what's called the "Pythagorean" table, the one most people use. You add up the letters of the name, then the digits of the total, until only one digit is left. For example: Mia is M = 4, I = 9 and A = 1, so 14, and 1 + 4 = 5. Ben is B = 2, E = 5 and N = 5, so 12, and 1 + 2 = 3. Mia carries the 5 and Ben the 3.
There's one exception: when the total lands on 11 or 22, you stop there. Those are the "master numbers". Each number has its reputation: the 1 makes the decisions, the 2 looks for harmony, the 5 needs freedom, the 9 thinks of others, and so on. The test then compares your two numbers using a compatibility grid. A 3 and a 6, for example, get on very well, while a 4 and a 5 much less so.
The calculation takes the letters as you type them, without accents. "Chloé" and "Chloe" give the same number, but "Katie" and "Katy" don't (1 and 3). And if you don't know their sign yet, two first names are enough for the love calculator, which gives a percentage with no astrology at all.
Zodiac signs and their four elements
Your zodiac sign is where the Sun was on the day you were born. It depends on the day and the month, and here you pick it yourself from the list. If you'd rather start from your two birth dates, another test finds your signs on its own and adds your life path number and your Chinese sign.
The twelve signs fall into four families, the elements: Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) and Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). In astrology, that's where you start when you compare two signs. Fire and Air go well together, just like Earth and Water. Two signs of the same element usually have the same needs.
The major affinities between signs
Signs that sit opposite each other in the zodiac, like Aries and Libra or Cancer and Capricorn, get some of the best scores in the test, often 8 or 9 out of 10: each one has what the other lacks. Signs "in square", three signs apart, like Leo and Scorpio, have a reputation for clashing, and their scores sit between 3 and 5. All in all, the test has a score and a text for each of the 144 combinations.
Why combine both readings?
Because they look at completely different things. Your sign depends on the day you were born, your first name was chosen by your parents, and one has nothing to do with the other. Two Leos can easily have names with opposite numbers, and a couple the signs call tricky can have two names that match very well.
That's why the result shows three scores. Take Emma, a Libra, and Noah, a Leo: their signs get on well (80%), their names a lot less (40%), and the overall score drops to 64%. Without the detail, you wouldn't know it's the names pulling the score down...
A good score doesn't guarantee an easy relationship, and a low score doesn't mean it won't work. Look at which of the two scores is pulling the result down, and talk about it together.
What these numbers cannot tell you
Neither astrology nor numerology can tell you whether your relationship will last. Take the result as a game, and as a chance to talk about your personalities: "you're such a Leo", "me, a 9? That surprises me", etc.
If you want a result based on your life together, you need questions. There's a test that asks each of you twenty questions about marriage, kids, money or holidays, then compares your answers.
Do it together on the same phone, then try again with your nicknames: the name score often changes!
