A hand-off test for one real reader
Blind Ship Name Test
A blend can look perfectly traceable after you already know the answer. Hide the sources, ask a fresh reader to say the candidate aloud and guess both names, then reveal what the spelling was meant to communicate.
Version 2026.07.29-1 · setup and guesses stay in this browser
Browser-local · no submitted names
Run one honest first-read check
Set up the candidate, then hand the device to someone who has not seen the two source names. The source pair stays hidden until they record both guesses and the reading difficulty.
Why hiding the sources matters
Once someone has seen the source pair, almost any visible fragment can feel obvious. That is hindsight, not first-read recognition. This worksheet fixes the order: the candidate appears alone; the reader records clarity and two guesses; only then does the source pair appear.
The result is intentionally modest. It records one reader's first encounter. It does not estimate population preference, pronunciation across languages, cultural suitability, consent, ownership, or whether a fandom already uses another label.
Step 1
Set up privately
Enter both source names and one candidate. If you arrive from the generator, this tab transfers the draft once through temporary browser storage and removes the transfer after loading.
Step 2
Hand off before explaining
Give the screen to someone who has not seen the inputs. Do not pronounce the draft, point to a join, or supply initials before the reader records two guesses.
Step 3
Discuss the mismatch
A wrong guess is useful evidence. Ask which letters led to it and whether a nickname, full-name format, slash label, or different candidate would communicate more clearly.
Worked example: Tayvis
Suppose the hidden sources are Taylor and Travis. A reader sees only “Tayvis.” If they write Taylor and Travis and read it without hesitation, the candidate passed one narrow recognition check. It still needs contextual search and the represented people's judgment.
Exact matching is deliberately narrow
The worksheet ignores case and punctuation when comparing guesses. It does not equate Liz with Elizabeth, infer transliterations, or decide that a misspelling was “close enough.” Those are discussion points for the people running the test, not facts for software to invent.
Keep this separate from the public study
This worksheet tests a candidate chosen by one visitor with one reader. It does not submit names or custom responses to Ship Name Lab and does not count toward the fixed-sample human review study. The public study uses locked cases so its aggregate can be interpreted consistently.
Need to inspect an edited spelling first? Use the Name Blend Checker. For fixed research cases, visit the Human Review Study.