March Madness Baby Names 2022: Boys QuarterFinals

Time flies when you’re talking baby names!

The first round of March Madness Baby Names 2022 for the boys is over.

With the first eight match-ups in the books, it’s time to look back. Every year, this round brings a mix of surprises and upsets, along with a certain number of predictable(ish) outcomes.

Let’s look back at last week’s competition:

• Otto crushed Cove, claiming over 78% of the vote.
• Hayes swept past Phoenix with just shy of 69% of the total.
• Wilder rushed past Huxley with a commanding 75% of the vote. Huxley is a fast favorite on the Appellation Mountain Pinterest boards, but Wilder is the name of the moment.
• Torin slipped past Percy in a close match-up, with just over 55% of the tally going to the Irish name.
• August garnered over 85% of the total to defeat Koa.
• Kai edged past Jones, earning nearly 58% of the haul.
• Wells racked up over 83% of the tab to advance against St. John. The take-away? We’re curious about St. John, but I’m not sure it really appeals as a given name.
• At almost 55% of the total, River managed to flow past Emrys.

How did your favorites do?

As usual, I had my predictions for a likely winner of the year’s contest. So far, my top pick is still in competition. But we’ll see! Sometimes the match-ups matter. Huxley could’ve beat many of the names on this list … just not Wilder. It’s just like that other March Madness contest, the one with the basketballs …

And, of course, that means it’s time to vote once more.

OTTO v RIVER

HAYES v WELLS

WILDER v KAI

TORIN v AUGUST

Thanks for voting!

Polls stay open until Thursday, March 17th. Come back on Saturday, March 19th to see which of your favorites win! And, of course, to vote in the next round.