diff --git a/internal/check-packet-render.mjs b/internal/check-packet-render.mjs
index f63216dd4..df8f27f6a 100644
--- a/internal/check-packet-render.mjs
+++ b/internal/check-packet-render.mjs
@@ -212,6 +212,22 @@ const r = await page.evaluate(() => {
   return {
     sheets: document.querySelectorAll('.sheet').length,
     cards: document.querySelectorAll('.card').length,
+    // ★ A CARD MUST NAME ITS PEOPLE GROUP. Counting .card proves the element exists; the spec says
+    // pages 2..n carry "the people groups, 20 per page, with photos" — a card with a photo and a
+    // BLANK NAME satisfies every count here: the total holds, the photo/typographic split holds,
+    // the page arithmetic holds. Same gap the .nophoto count had, one element up.
+    // ⚠ MEASURE THE NAME ELEMENT, NOT THE WHOLE CARD. A first version tested card.textContent and
+    // FAILED ITS OWN MUTATION TEST: blanking every name still left 18 characters per card, because
+    // the typographic fallback ("no photo available") lives INSIDE .card. The card was not empty;
+    // it just said nothing about a people group. .nm is the name line the spec means
+    // (packet-render.js:229), so that is what has to be non-empty.
+    // MEASURED 2026-09-25 on laos: 95 names, 0 blank, shortest "1. Aheu" — a threshold of 3 sits
+    // far below any real entry and above an empty one.
+    cardsBlank: [...document.querySelectorAll('.card')]
+      .filter((c) => {
+        const nm = c.querySelector('.nm')
+        return !nm || (nm.textContent || '').replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim().length < 3
+      }).length,
     imgs: imgs.length,
     // ⚠ DISTINCT sources, not the tag count. A PDF DE-DUPLICATES identical images, so the
     // number of /Subtype /Image objects can never equal the number of <img> tags when two
@@ -333,6 +349,12 @@ const pdfBytes = pdf.length
 const fails = []
 if (!r.sheets) fails.push('no .sheet elements — the packet did not render')
 if (!r.cards) fails.push('no people-group cards')
+if (r.cardsBlank) {
+  fails.push(`${r.cardsBlank} of ${r.cards} people-group card(s) have no NAME — a card that `
+    + 'names nobody is a slot on the page, not an entry in a prayer list. The counts above cannot '
+    + 'see this: the total, the photo split and the page arithmetic all hold, and so does '
+    + 'card.textContent, because the "no photo available" fallback sits inside the card.')
+}
 if (r.broken) fails.push(`${r.broken} broken photo(s)`)
 
 // ── "20 PER PAGE **WITH IMAGES**" WAS PRINTED, NEVER ASSERTED ────────────────