March Madness 2017: Girls SemiFinals

Could this be the most fascinating March Madness 2017 Girls SemiFinals ever?

Three of the four names advancing to the semi-finals start with E. None of them rank in the current US Top 500. In fact, two of them fall outside of the current Top 1000!

Last week’s contests ended up like this:

• Elodie – a frequent March Madness contender – handily defeated Anouk, 73% to 27%.
• Literary Esme snuck past elegant Sabine, 56% to 44%.
• In one of the closest contests of the season, Elowen bested Maisie but just a few votes. The final tally was 50.55% for Elowen; 49.45% for Maisie. And I was thinking Maisie might win the whole tournament!
• The big nature name showdown favored Wren over Marigold. Again, the margin was slim. Wren triumphed with 51% of the vote, versus Marigold’s respectable 49%.

What does this mean for the finals? In 2011, the very first year of competition, Elodie made it all the way to the finals before being knocked down by Louisa. All of these names have competed before, too, suggesting that our favorites aren’t changing so dramatically over time.

And yet, the March Madness process always fascinates for one reason. The most-read posts often go to the extremes, like James for a Girl or Phryne, the top two seeds in this year’s competition. But as we winnow the names down, we inevitably head towards the center – on-trend names that parents can see themselves using in real life.

That’s enough of that! Time to vote in the March Madness 2017 Girls SemiFinals!

Elegant Elodie faces off against nature name Wren

Two E appellations square off: literary Esme v. Cornish Elowen

The polls stay open until Thursday, March 23rd. Please vote for your favorites! Are any of your favorites still in the contest?