The votes are in! We have a new pair of names to add to the list of champions in March Madness Baby Names.
In what, you ask?
Every March, we take the sixteen most-viewed boys’ names and sixteen most-viewed girls’ names from the prior calendar year. In a bracket-style competition, we vote our way through until we have our set of champions.
Let’s look back at the two final rounds – and how we got here!
BOYS TOURNAMENT: STARTING WITH THE SWEET SIXTEEN
- KAI
- HUXLEY
- OTTO
- KOA
- RHODES
- CALLUM
- EVREN
- SULLIVAN
- ST. JOHN
- CASSIAN
- COSMO
- BLAISE
- WESLEY
- ZEV
- HAL
- EVANDER
GIRLS TOURNAMENT: STARTING WITH THE SWEET SIXTEEN
- 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
THE NEW NAMES JOIN PAST CHAMPIONS
- 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
*In 2015, Cora defended the title. After that, the Appellation Mountain community decided that no past winner could compete in future matches.
BOYS FINAL MATCH: CALLUM VERSUS WESLEY
In what feels like a shocking upset, Callum beat out Wesley, with over 54% of the vote.
Maybe we could’ve seen it coming. Callum was seeded #7, versus Wesley at #14. And Callum beat some tough competition to get here, including Otto in the quarterfinals.
This up-and-coming Cal name joins our list of victors, and Wesley can compete again next year.
GIRLS FINAL MATCH: MAISIE VERSUS LILA
In one of the closest final matches ever, #13 Maisie slipped past #4 Lila with only a handful of votes. Officially, Maisie has 50.2% of the tally, which is a razor thin margin!
Maisie’s path here wasn’t easy. In the opening round, Maisie faced off against popular favorite Willow.
Still, even though Maisie was seeded #14, comments had it as the name to beat early on.
Maisie joins our list of victors, and Lila might just return in 2025.
