I think it very much depends on the combo and the first, but here’s how I see/do it. I don’t consider surname flow, because I haven’t a clue what it’ll be, but I do think it is important to consider if you’re lucky enough to know these things haha. Also this is more how I make newer combos now, so they don’t really take into account honouring names and stuff like that. My favourite name combos that I actually want to use and have had for ages are a little different, as some of their middles I specifically want to use for different reasons. But I do try and make the best of them, like rethink honour names or how to honour people/things to help with flow and how the combo feels. Names lower down my list or that I’m less likely to use, I give myself free reign over middles.
I find it’s a lot about flow, how it sounds out loud, and how the names fit with each other. I like to imagine names having certain images or personalities, not necessarily in loads of detail, but I like to almost think what a person or character with the name would be like. So for middles, they have to have similar or complementing personalities to the first for them to go well together. Right now I’m sorting out a lot of combos on my girls’ list, so using [name_f]Odessa[/name_f] as a random example, I see her as calm, thoughtful, caring, rational, skilled and talented, but humble and modest. It happens in this case there’s an actual character who I think has a similar personality; now I’m thinking [name_f]Odessa[/name_f] Pyrrha, not necessarily the best flow ever, but I can imagine [name_f]Odessa[/name_f] and Pyrrha being the same person, and the second middle can help with flow. So now I’m just trying to find names which suit [name_f]Odessa[/name_f] Pyrrha (particularly [name_f]Odessa[/name_f] as the first) and that will sound good and flow well. I’ve spent an hour or so going through names that I think might work, writing them down and saying them out loud. That’s really important, because even if you don’t always say middles out loud, it’s so nice to have a combo that sounds good altogether.
Obviously that’s not everything, I’d sacrifice flow for a name I think goes really well, or for an association (family, character or otherwise), but for names I’m not necessarily going to actually use, I do try to find as many options as possible. Sometimes just Googling ‘middle names for …’ or looking up Nameberry threads on a name can bring up some ideas. I’m not as fussed about what middle names I use (past some of my favourites with specific rules/honouring) so a lot of the time a name that I don’t love enough to have on my list, but kind of like or I haven’t thought about, might work really well for a certain combo. Looking for middles or firsts for the middle name once you have one, can sometimes help too. Like there might be a middle or first that suits Pyrrha a lot, and flows really well, so it might fit [name_f]Odessa[/name_f] and sound okay as middle 2. I’m liking the idea of names that to me, have a warm, autumnal feel, maybe a word of nature name, so I’m focusing on names with that tone. Words and nature names can be really useful, since they have pretty instant imagery linked to them.
I don’t really have many conscious rules about syllabic flow. I like to just say a potential combo out loud, and see how it sounds. It can really help show if any of the names have similar sounds that aren’t obvious on paper, or if anything sounds too awkward or difficult to say. One thing about flow I tend to stick to, is that one syllable names (firsts, middles, or surnames) next to each other can sound very choppy. So I generally say if there’s a one syllable middle, it should be middle 1 if the surname is also one syllable, and middle 2 if surname is more than one. In general I don’t like one syllable names in the same combo if it can be avoided, apart from a one syllable first and one syllable surname. Otherwise, I think saying is seeing. My entire name, first, middle, and double barrelled surname (far into the future I may make the first part of my surname another middle) is wholly comprised of 3 syllable names (altogether surname is 6 syllables), but it sounds fine. Not the best, but not awful or difficult at all. I think there are certain syllable combinations that don’t work, but I’ve never thought about it much. It’s something that just sounds weird or wrong when I say it, so I move on and alter the combo. Sometimes I’ve gone “that sounds kinda long, maybe I’ll only have a 1 or 2 syllable second middle or switch the middles,”, but again, saying it is important. I’m usually not too fussed about how long a combo is on paper either (within reason); up until now I’ve rarely used my entire name on paperwork much, and if there’s space for both middles, there’ll be space for both (if that makes sense).
I’ve got some personal preferences for combos too. I try to avoid having any of the names having the same ending sound, except when it comes to girls and -a endings, which I don’t think are particularly prominent, so don’t stand out too much. In that case I don’t mind two -a names together, but never three, although that does depend on what you think sounds good. I’m not the biggest fan of alliteration either, so I tend to avoid it, but I don’t mind the first name and second middle sharing an initial, if the whole combo works. Whilst I think nature and word names can really add some magic to a combo, and complete the imagery perfectly, I try to limit myself to one per combo. Then sometimes I get stuck on a middle name that’s really versatile and works in loads of combos, so it’ll keep cropping up a lot. They tend to be names with awesome imagery that happens to suit a lot of names I like examples being Nightingale, [name_f]Snow[/name_f], [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], [name_u]Wren[/name_u], [name_f]Fae[/name_f]/[name_f]Fey[/name_f], [name_u]Winter[/name_u], [name_m]William[/name_m], [name_m]Archie[/name_m], [name_m]Arthur[/name_m], [name_m]Horatio[/name_m]. Inadvertently I seem to prefer two long names and a shorter one for girls especially, but I’m not entirely where that came from haha.
That was longer than I thought, and I’m not sure if it makes sense, but I didn’t realise how much there is to it lol. [name_m]How[/name_m] difficult it is to find a combo can really differ between different names. For some both middles jump out straight away, for some just one, or not at all. Style, origin, or sound can limit what middles work too in some cases. I have far fewer names I like for boys than girls, so it can depend on gender, but I’ll hush now ;).
