Welcome back to March Madness Baby Names 2026 Girls SemiFinals!
If you’re new here, let me explain: every March, we engage in a friendly competition. We take the sixteen wild, wonderful, most-viewed names at Appellation Mountain from the prior year, and set them up, bracket-style. Just like that other contest that happens every March …
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.
Before we get to the SemiFinals, we need to recap the last round of matches.
MARCH MADNESS BABY NAMES 2026: RESULTS FROM THE QUARTERFINALS
The competition gets more intense with every round. That’s the point of bracket-style competition, right?
Sylvia handily beat Astrid, with nearly 58% of the total. Sylvia and Sylvie are both climbing up the popularity charts. In 2016, Sylvie won the whole March Madness tournament. Could Sylvia be next?
With over 62% of the vote, Mabel beat Romilly. This one hurt a little! But Mabel is a fast-rising vintage darling. It’s the kind name that AM readers tend to love, and we’re pretty smart about finding the next big thing.
Darcy sailed past Rumi with a little over 65% of the tally. No question that Rumi is having a moment, but Darcy has already arrived, in both the US and elsewhere in the English-speaking world. Odds are that Rumi will be back, but for the moment, it’s Darcy that advances.
In the closest contest, Celeste edged past Lillian with not quite 55% of the count. Celeste is absolutely an up-and-comer, and beating long-time favorite Lillian proves it.
That sets us up nicely for the semifinals!
We’re down to just four names and two match-ups, and these are gonna be tough!
MARCH MADNESS BABY NAMES 2026 GIRLS SEMIFINALS: THE MATCH-UPS
SYLVIA versus CELESTE
MABEL versus DARCY
THANKS FOR VOTING!
Polls remain open until Wednesday, March 25th. Check back on Saturday, March 28th to see if your favorites advance – and, of course, to vote in the next round!
