Your votes have narrowed down the field to two final names!
But before we get to the two beguiling finalists, let’s review the girls’ SemiFinals in the Great Halloween Baby Names Contest.
To recap, all of the names in this year’s showdown are drawn from Vampire Diaries and its two spin-offs, The Originals and Legacies. When it comes to picking favorites, though, it’s all about the names themselves, not the heroes or villains who wore them on the series.
The last round pitted three names against each other in each of two contests. The results? Not as close as I might have thought:
- In the first match, Sybil commanded nearly 37% of the vote, with Georgina and Camille nearly tied for the second spot. That’s not a resounding victory, but there’s no question Sybil came out on top. To refresh: Sybil served as a major villain in a later season of Vampire Diaries, a siren first born many years BC. But despite her bad guy status, her name remains compelling – and, of course, pop culture has given us a very different image for Sybil, thanks to Downton Abbey.
- Sabine carried the day in the second match-up, earning over 43% of the vote. Second place went to Nadia, followed by Amara in a distant third. We met Sabine in the first season of The Originals, one of many witches living in New Orleans. In the series, it’s a two-syllable name: sah BEAN. But in German, it sounds a little closer to Sabina. As with Sybil, there’s a second pop culture use of the name: Star Wars Rebels gives us Sabine Wren.
Neither name appears in the current US Top 1000, though they both sound like they could – maybe should! – rise in use in the coming years. With 108 girls given the name in 2018, Sybil is slightly more popular than Sabine, with just 64 births. But both feel exotic, glamorous, rare.
That makes them the perfect two finalists for the Great Halloween Baby Names contest 2019!
SYBIL V. SABINE
The winner is up to you now. Please vote:
Voting remains open through Thursday, October 24th. Check back for the winners next Saturday, October 26th.