It’s March! That means lots of people are watching basketball, thrilling in the competition.
Here? We’re competitive, too. But instead of watching hoops, we’re voting our way through the most popular names at Appellation Mountain last year, until we find just one champion for the boys, and just one victor for the girls.
PAST MARCH MADNESS BABY NAMES CHAMPIONS
Wondering which names have won this contest in years past?
- Nathaniel and Louisa in 2011
- Arthur and Genevieve in 2012
- Archer and Isla in 2013
- Everett and Cora in 2014
- Finn and Cora in 2015*
- Theodore and Sylvie in 2016
- Leo and Wren in 2017
- Rowan and Eliza in 2018
- Arlo and Margot in 2019
- Caspian and Tess in 2020
- Raphael and Magnolia in 2021
- August and Marigold in 2022
- James and Gemma in 2023
2024 NAMES COMPETING
Every year, the most popular names at Appellation Mountain compete to join this list of March Madness champs. The names that compete were the most-viewed in the prior calendar year. That means January 1st through December 31st of 2023.
*There’s one difference between this tournament and the ones with basketballs. (Okay, more than one, but this matters most.) Past winners cannot compete in future years. We made that rule after Cora won back-to-back victories in 2014 and 2015. Hence the * after the 2015 listing.
That brings us to this year’s names, drawn from this list:
- JAMES – Yes, for girls. There’s a post on this site titled “James for a Girl” and it’s the #1 post in the girls’ category this year (and last, actually).
- TALLULAH
- LILA
- NOA
- WILLOW
- RUE
- BETTY
- NAVY
- WEDNESDAY
- VESPER
- ELOWEN
- MAISIE
- DULCIE
- OAKLEY
- ENOLA
- BERNADETTE
And with that, let’s get to the competition! As in March Madness, seeds are determined by rank. But in this case, I’m never sure if it’s a big advantage …
JAMES versus BERNADETTE
TALLULAH versus ENOLA
LILA versus OAKLEY
NOA versus DULCIE
WILLOW versus MAISIE
RUE versus ELOWEN
BETTY versus VESPER
NAVY versus WEDNESDAY
THANKS FOR VOTING!
Polls remain open until Monday, March 18th. Check back on March 19th to see if your favorites advance – and, of course, to vote in the next round!
