Time for the new names showdown 2018 boys opening round!
Our goal: to choose the name most likely to climb dramatically when the new numbers come out in May 2019. This is the boys’ contest; the girls’ opening round posted earlier today.
The competing names come from the new entries to the US Top 1000. I picked seven of them, and you chose the eighth!
In order to compete, a name has to be either debuting on the list, or returning after an absence. Alternate spellings don’t count, even though some of them could easily catch on in a big way.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll narrow down our favorites, until we have the Appellation Mountain community’s top pick. And then, next May 2019, we’ll see how well our favorite name fares in the names data.
Past winners include:
- For the inaugural year, we crowned Wilder the winner of the New Names Showdown title for boys. And oh-boy-golly, we were right! Wilder has doubled in use since its debut, currently ranking #573, with no signs of slowing down.
- In 2017, we chose Shepherd. Shepherd ranked #797 last year, up from #862 the year before.
In other words? We’ve done very well picking rising boys’ names – far better than our favorites have fared on the girls’ side!
So let’s put our thinking caps on, and vote for the names most likely to fare well in the immediate future.
Ready, set, vote!
New Names Showdown 2018 Boys Opening Round: Caspian v. Alaric
Literary Caspian takes on medieval Alaric.
New Names Showdown 2018 Boys Opening Round: Wells v. Gianluca
Preppy Wells faces down Italian Gianluca.
New Names Showdown 2018 Boys Opening Round: Koa v. Simeon
Modern Koa competes against ancient Simeon.
New Names Showdown 2018 Boys Opening Round: Reign v. Ledger
Celebrity favorite Reign squares off against celebrity surname Ledger.
Polls will remain open until Thursday, July 12th. Check back on Saturday, July 14th to see if your favorites advance, and, of course, to vote in the next round!
