How to Find Friendship Percentage on Paper in 5 Easy Steps

Two names, a pen, and the back page of a notebook — that is all this takes. Most of us first worked out a friendship score in school, usually while a teacher was explaining something we were definitely not listening to. If you remember the game but not the exact steps, you are in the right place. Here is exactly how to find friendship percentage on paper, the classic way, with a full worked example waiting for you below.

The short answer first. Write your name, then the word FRIENDS, then your friend’s name, all in one line. Count how many times each letter of FRIENDS — F, R, I, E, N, D and S — appears in that line. Write the seven counts in a row. Then keep adding neighbouring numbers together, round after round, until only two digits are left. Those two digits are your friendship percentage. That is the whole game. Now let us do it slowly, so your answer comes out right the first time.

What You Need Before You Start

Almost nothing. A pen or pencil. A piece of paper — a notebook is traditional, but the back of an old bill works fine. And two names: yours, and your friend’s.

One decision to make before you begin. Pick exactly which version of each name you are going to use — first name, full name, or nickname — and stick to it. Neha and Neha Sharma do not give the same answer, because every extra letter changes the counting. Most people use first names only. Our example below does the same.

How to Find Friendship Percentage on Paper in 5 Steps

Step 1: Write both names with FRIENDS in the middle

Write your name, then the word FRIENDS, then your friend’s name. All capitals, all in one line.

It should look like this:

YOURNAMEFRIENDSFRIENDSNAME

That word FRIENDS in the middle is the heart of the whole method. Leave it out and you are doing a different sum altogether. People forget it more often than you would think — it is mistake number two on the list further down, and yes, it has a list.

Step 2: Count the letters F, R, I, E, N, D and S

Go through your line slowly and count seven things: how many Fs, how many Rs, how many Is, how many Es, how many Ns, how many Ds and how many Ss there are in total. Count everything — both names and the word FRIENDS itself. It all counts.

Tick each letter off with your pen as you count it. A small habit, but it saves you from the classic disaster: counting one letter twice, getting a different score from yesterday, and starting an argument about it.

Step 3: Write the seven counts in a row

Write your counts down in the order of the word FRIENDS. So if you counted 1 F, 1 R, 3 Is, 2 Es, 3 Ns, 1 D and 1 S, your row looks like this:

1 1 3 2 3 1 1

Seven numbers. That row is your starting line. Everything after this is just adding.

Step 4: Add neighbouring numbers, round after round

Now add the first number to the second, the second to the third, and so on. Write the answers as a new, shorter row — six numbers this time. Then do it again: five numbers. Again: four. Again: three. One more round: two. Stop there.

One rule matters in this step. If a pair adds up to 10 or more, do not write the full total. Add the two digits of the total together and write that single number instead. So if a pair makes 14, write 5 (1 + 4). If a pair makes 18, write 9. This little rule is what keeps your row shrinking by exactly one number every round, and it is the step people get wrong most often.

Step 5: Read your friendship percentage

The final two digits, read together, are your friendship percentage. If your last row is 9 and 9, your score is 99%. Finished. That is how to do the friendship test on paper — no phone, no internet, no app.

A Full Worked Example: Neha and Nikhil

Let us run the complete method once, properly, with two friends: Neha and Nikhil.

Step one, write the line:

NEHAFRIENDSNIKHIL

Step two, count the seven letters in that line. Neha gives us an N and an E. The word FRIENDS gives one of every letter. Nikhil adds two Is and one more N. So the counts are:

• F = 1
• R = 1
• I = 3
• E = 2
• N = 3
• D = 1
• S = 1

Step three, the row: 1 1 3 2 3 1 1

Step four, add the neighbours, round by round:

• 1+1, 1+3, 3+2, 2+3, 3+1, 1+1 → 2 4 5 5 4 2
• 2+4, 4+5, 5+5 makes 10 so write 1, 5+4, 4+2 → 6 9 1 9 6
• 6+9 makes 15 so write 6, 9+1 makes 10 so write 1, 1+9 makes 10 so write 1, 9+6 makes 15 so write 6 → 6 1 1 6
• 6+1, 1+1, 1+6 → 7 2 7
• 7+2, 2+7 → 9 9

Step five, read it: Neha and Nikhil score 99%.

Ninety-nine. Screenshot that and send it to your Nikhil, or your Neha, before you do anything else. Then try it with your own two names. Two minutes, honestly.

How to Read Your Friendship Score

You have a number. Here is how people usually read it — lightly, please. This is a game, not a judgement.

• 90% to 100% — The rare zone. Keep this person forever. This is the friend who answers the 2 a.m. phone call.
• 75% to 89% — A strong, easy bond. The kind where you finish each other’s sentences and split the last slice without a debate.
• 55% to 74% — Solid ground. Most real, lasting friendships honestly live in this band — comfortable, dependable, low drama.
• 35% to 54% — Opposites energy. You argue about films, food and everything else, and you are still each other’s first call.
• Below 35% — The game says chaos. Take it as a joke. Plenty of legendary friendships started as rivals, and the paper has no idea what you two have been through together. People who study friendship for a living describe it as something built slowly, out of time and trust — which is really just a longer way of saying the same thing.

Friendship Percentage vs Love Percentage: What Is Different?

If you have read our guide on how to calculate love percentage on paper, you will notice this game is a close cousin — same notebook, same family. Two things genuinely differ.

First, the word in the middle. The love version uses LOVES and counts five letters. The friendship version uses FRIENDS and counts seven. That one swap changes every count that follows, which is why the same two names get a different score in each game.

Second, the adding rule. In the love version, a pair that makes 12 gets split into 1 and 2, written side by side. In this friendship version, that same 12 becomes a single 3 (1 + 2). This is not one of them being “wrong” — notebook games have always had local rules, the way every street plays cricket slightly differently. Just stay loyal to one version per game, and never compare a friendship score from this method with a love score from that one. Different games, different numbers, both equally unserious.

5 Common Mistakes That Change Your Answer

If your score keeps moving every time you try, one of these is almost certainly why.

1. Mixing name versions. Neha in one try, Neha Sharma in the next. Different letters, different answer. Choose one version of each name and keep it forever.
2. Forgetting the word FRIENDS. Without it, the counts collapse and the whole method falls apart. It goes between the names. Always.
3. Counting a letter twice. It happens when you rush. Tick letters off as you go.
4. Writing the full two-digit total. A pair that makes 14 must become 5, not stay 14. This is the mistake that ruins the most calculations.
5. Being unfair to one name. Nickname for you, full name for your friend. Same rule on both sides — the paper notices these things.

Paper Method or the Online Friendship Calculator?

Both have their place, honestly.

The paper method is slow, slightly messy, and that is exactly its charm. It needs no phone and no battery, and it turns into a group activity beautifully — one person counts out loud while everyone else argues about the score. It is the version with memories attached.

The online route is for the other mood. If you want the number in five seconds, our free friendship calculator runs this exact same FRIENDS counting for you and shows you every round of the working, not just the final score. Same names, same method, same answer — the tool just does the adding. And if the two of you are curious about the romantic version of the question too, the love calculator by name on our homepage is one tap away.

Final Words

That is everything. Two names, one small word, seven counts, a little adding, and a number your whole group chat will have opinions about. Knowing how to find friendship percentage on paper means the game now lives in your head — ready for long train journeys, boring lectures, weddings, and every “remember when we used to do this in school?” moment.

Just keep the number in its place. It is a laugh, a screenshot, an excuse to message your best friend. It is not a verdict. Real friendship is quieter stuff: showing up, listening properly, and being there on the boring days as well as the big ones. Get that right, and any two names on any piece of paper will do just fine.

Now — whose name are you putting next to yours first?

Frequently Asked Questions