Halloween 2015Boo! Did you celebrate Halloween?

The kids went to school as Abraham Lincoln and Juno. (It was a Cleopatra costume, but twenty minutes before we walked out the door, she changed her mind. Why be a queen when you can be a goddess?) For Trick-or-Treat night, it was random-crazy-scary-monster guy and Mavis, from Hotel Transylvania.

Yup, they’re getting old. I was really quite jealous of the parents with the tiny kiddos dressed as lions and ladybugs and such.

But now that all of that glorious Halloween madness has ended, I do feel like the end of the year is just around the corner. And that means that it’s almost, nearly, just about time to look at the names that will compete in March Madness 2016!

March Madness is a month-long competition, with the sixteen most-viewed Baby Name of the Day posts for boys, and the sixteen most-viewed Baby Name of the Day posts for girls, competing for the title.

Based on the poll from last year’s competition, all past winners will retire after claiming the trophy. That means, these names can’t compete in 2016:

  • The original victors, Louisa and Nathaniel.
  • 2012 favorites Genevieve and Arthur.
  • Title winners from 2013, Archer and Isla.
  • 2014 champs Cora and Everett.
  • And 2015 title holders, Cora and Finn. Yup, that’s right – Cora was so popular that the name won the title two years straight! But Cora is now retired, along with the eight other names that have come out on top.

So which names might make it into the 2016 tourney? Based on page views from January through October 2015, the likely contenders are:

  • For boys, Koa, Leo, Soren, Huxley, Beckett, Sullivan, Elliot, Shepherd, Rafferty, Caius, Theodore, Fox, Reid, Jude, Hartley, and Cove.
  • For girls, Elodie, Lena, Selah, Wren, Esme, Marigold, Everly, Nadia, Elowen, Pluma, Mira, Sylvie, Lila, Maeve, Soraya, and Tallulah.

Some of these will make for really tough match-ups!

Elsewhere online:

  • What a great list of fresh names for boys!
  • It’s no shocker to see names like Henry and Lily repeat, but when there are two Arlos in the British Baby Name birth announcements? Could be a coincidence, could be a sign of things to come …
  • This is an interesting list of upcoming Latino/Latina names. And yet, the phenomenon that most interests me is crossover names. I know two Spanish-speaking families, both with roots in Central America, with brand new babies. One is Daniel, the other is Athena. Neither are names exclusive to Latino families, but both cross between two languages and cultures gracefully.
  • Sisters named Milana and Isella – swoon!
  • How could I forget that Maude is a quintessentially 90s name? I mean, it isn’t. But it is. Thank you, Julianne Moore.
  • I love a good name game, and one based on actual given names from early Boston? Even better! The icing on the cake, of course, is that my favorite name for Dionysia Ravenscroft’s swain is currently in the lead: Archdale Palmer. Though I almost voted for Scarborough Gridley. I don’t say it enough: Nancy is just plain brilliant!
  • That name game makes me think of something I say so often I feel like a broken record: There’s no such thing as a normal name!
  • Things I’m fascinated by: history, calendars, names. All together in one post, thanks to the DMNES. Bonus: this month’s calendar mentions Jadwiga. I’m not brave enough to use it as a first, but I love the sound of Josephine Jadwiga Grae, nickname Posy.
  • Apple names make me happy. Wouldn’t Galatea, nickname Gala, be a great name for a girl?Bride of Frankenstein
  • One last seasonal post: let’s end with Names from Scary Movies! Though my heart belongs to Elsa, as in Elsa Lanchester, better known as The Bride of Frankenstein. Oooh … when my days of rushing around to find stovepipe hats and synthetic wigs that flip just like Mavis the Vampire’s hair are over, I’m dressing up as Mrs. F.

That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading. Happy November – and have a great week!

About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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