It’s time for the March Madness Baby Names 2025 Boys SemiFinals!
What is this contest, you make ask? Every March, when most people are watching basketball, we turn our attention to a different kind of competition. We take the sixteen wild, wonderful, most-viewed names at Appellation Mountain from the prior year, and set them up, bracket-style. The competition reveals just one girls’ champ and a single victor on the boys’ side, too.
For more details on past winners, and this year’s competition, check out the Opening Round.
Your votes have narrowed the field from sixteen contenders at the beginning to eight last week … and now, we’re down to just four.
Let’s review last week’s outcomes.
MARCH MADNESS BABY NAMES 2025: RESULTS FROM THE QUARTERFINALS
Every round, this feels a little harder!
Corbin defeated Atlas, with 54% of the vote. This was the closest match-up today. Corbin falling in use in the US, but remains a definite favorite for AM readers.
Otto took over 72% of the total against Zakai. This was an interesting match, because both names are rising in the US. Otto feels more like an antique revival, while Zakai feels like a newcomer. AM readers tend to lean a little more towards old school comebacks, so this result makes sense.
With a little over 55% of the tally, Adrian swept past Asa. I feel like this contest could’ve gone either way, but boys’ names ending with IAN are still very much in the spotlight.
In another decisive finish, Sullivan garnered just about 64% of the vote against Torin. Sullivan has gone from novelty to established favorite, and I think this result bears that out.
MARCH MADNESS BABY NAMES 2025: BOYS SEMIFINALS
We’re down to just four names and two match-ups, and even I can’t decide which way to vote!
CORBIN versus SULLIVAN
OTTO versus ADRIAN
THANKS FOR VOTING!
Polls remain open until Wednesday, March 26th. Check back on March 29th to see if your favorites advance – and, of course, to vote in the next round!
