And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but for Adam no fitting partner was found.
ולאדם לא מצא עזר כנגדו....ר"ל שבחן וראה בשכלו שמכל המינ' אין לו בין זוגו. ולמדו רז"ל זה ממלת מצא משמע שטרח וחקר ולא מצא:
And for Adam no fitting partner was found... Understand it as in the phrase "he approached his cow" to mean that he evaluated each ones merits, and saw rationally that none matched him. And from the word 'found' our sages concluded that he really searched, reasoned, and did not find.
ולאדם: לעצמו, והזכיר שמו לומר שלא מצא עזר הדומה לו לפי טבעו שהוא אדם.
And for Adam: that is, for himself; and he mentioned his own name, to say: I haven't found a partner who matched me in being similarly of human nature....
...It was in giving them names that Adam say how hard it was to find him a helpmeet. Why? Because originally Adam didn't understand about himself, how many different qualities he had. After all he had never been angry; how should he know that the quality of anger was in him? And the same with compassion, and so on. But when he studied each of the creatures, and perceived each one's qualities, he comprehended that in him, himself, the qualities of many other creatures were included. For without that, he could not have perceived those qualities; for one who doesn't know fury would never believe or perceive what fury is. But once he had perceived that this was the case, he perceived also that he needed a helpmeet who had the strengths necessary to match him. And even if God would create a new creature, also made from gathered dust of the great, and also including all those qualities, it still wouldn't be the help he needed -- because he needed those qualities matched with changes that would make them complementary. She should love him, but have independence enough not to need to cling to him when it was not time for clinging; her similarity and her difference together would make her a partner; and similarly when one is angry, the other can offer space and leave him alone. But because they were created one from the other, even in their differences they are partners