Long before anyone typed two names into a website, people scribbled them in notebook margins and cancelled out matching letters to spell L-O-V-E-S. It's a completely different method from the hash-based love percentage on this site — here's how the classic paper version works, how the two compare, and why they shouldn't be confused with each other.
What exactly is the "L-O-V-E-S" letter game?
Quick answerIt's a classic hand-played compatibility trick: write two names, cross out one matching letter pair at a time between them, count how many letters are left uncancelled, and match that count against the word L-O-V-E-S — Lovers, Obsessed, Very much in love, Enemies, Siblings — cycling through the five words as many times as needed.
This is one of the oldest name-based novelty games around, usually played with nothing more than a pen and a scrap of paper. Unlike a modern calculator, there's no hidden formula — the "algorithm" is something you do yourself, letter by letter, which is part of why it has stuck around in notebooks and group chats for so long.
How do you actually play it?
Write both names out, letters only (spaces usually ignored). Then, one at a time, find a letter in the first name that also appears somewhere in the second name and cross out one instance of each. Keep going until no more matching pairs remain. Count the leftover, uncrossed letters — that total number is what you count around the letters L, O, V, E, S in order, wrapping back to L after S if the count is higher than five, until you land on the final word.
Purely as an illustration, not a claim about real people: say the two example names, once matching letters are cancelled, leave 7 uncrossed letters. Counting L(1)-O(2)-V(3)-E(4)-S(5)-L(6)-O(7) lands on "O" for Obsessed. Different hypothetical names would leave a different leftover count and land on a different word entirely.
How is this different from ToolPico's love percentage?
Quick answerThey're two separate novelty methods that happen to both start from two names. ToolPico's calculator normalizes and hashes both names into one 0-100% score plus Communication, Passion, and Trust sub-scores. The L-O-V-E-S game instead manually cancels shared letters and maps a leftover count to one of five words. Neither feeds into the other on this site.
The table below lays out the two side by side, purely to clarify how differently they're built — not to suggest one is more "correct" than the other, since both are entertainment only.
Two different name-based novelty methods, compared
| | ToolPico love percentage | L-O-V-E-S letter game |
|---|
| Output | 0-100% score + 3 sub-scores | One of 5 words |
| How it's computed | Stable 32-bit hash of the sorted, normalized names | Manual letter-cancellation, then counting |
| Where it runs | Instantly, in the browser | By hand, on paper (or mentally) |
| Repeatable? | Yes — same names, same score, always | Yes, if done carefully the same way each time |
| Order-sensitive? | No — names are sorted first | Not for the cancellation step itself |
A possible future idea, not currently on the site: showing a small secondary "bonus stat" next to the main love percentage that runs the L-O-V-E-S letter-counting method on the same two names — clearly labeled as a separate, different novelty method from the main score, purely for extra fun. As of this writing, ToolPico's calculator only produces the hash-based percentage and its three sub-scores; it does not compute or display an L-O-V-E-S result.
Do nicknames or spelling change the result?
For both methods, yes — but the letter game is more sensitive to it. Because cancellation happens letter by letter, swapping "Jonathan" for "Jon" changes exactly which letters are left over, which can shift which of the five words you land on. ToolPico's hash-based percentage is similarly affected by spelling (it treats "Jonathan" and "Jon" as different normalized strings), but since it's one clean pass through a hash function rather than manual counting, there's no room for a counting mistake to creep in along the way.
Example scenario, hypothetical: if two friends play the letter game with "Katherine and Daniel" and then redo it with the shorter "Kate and Dan," they may land on a different one of the five words purely because the leftover letter count changed — not because anything about the pair actually changed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the L-O-V-E-S letter-counting game?
It's a classic pen-and-paper trick: cross out matching letters between two names one pair at a time, count
how many are left over, and match the leftover count against the letters L, O, V, E, S, which stand for
Lovers, Obsessed, Very much in love, Enemies, and Siblings. It predates any calculator and is usually played by
hand or in a notebook margin.
Is the L-O-V-E-S game the same as the love percentage on ToolPico?
No. They are two separate novelty methods. ToolPico's love percentage comes from a deterministic
hash of both names reduced to a 0-100% score. The L-O-V-E-S game instead counts leftover letters after cancelling
matches and maps that count to one of five words. Neither method is used to calculate the other on this site
today.
Could ToolPico ever show an L-O-V-E-S result next to the main score?
It's a reasonable idea for later: showing a small labeled "bonus" stat using the letter-counting
method alongside the main love percentage, clearly marked as a separate, different novelty method rather than
part of the main calculation. As of this writing it has not been added to the tool.
Why do people still enjoy the letter-counting version if there's already a calculator?
It's tactile and social — you can play it with just a pen, no screen required, and it forces you
to slow down and cross out letters one at a time with a friend watching. A calculator gives you an instant,
precise number; the letter game gives you a small shared ritual, which is part of its appeal even though it's
less precise.
Does using a nickname instead of a full first name change either method?
Yes, for both, though differently. ToolPico's calculator treats "Alexandra" and "Alex" as
different normalized strings, so they hash to different scores. The letter-counting game is even more sensitive,
since it cancels letters one at a time — a longer or shorter name changes exactly which letters are left over,
so a nickname can shift which of the five L-O-V-E-S words you land on.