New Names Showdown 2023: Girls SemiFinals

Your votes have taken us from the dramatic opening round to the semifinals – just four names left!

If you’re not sure what all of this is about, start with this post to learn more about the New Names Showdown in general, and especially this year’s competition.

In brief? It’s March Madness. But in July. With baby names. And readers votes subbing for points scored.

Let’s review last week’s match-ups:

Cielo trounced Love with nearly 72% of the vote. We love word names, and Love has plenty of potential. But when it comes to names we’re wild about? Culture-spanning, liquid, potentially unisex, and absolutely meaning-rich Cielo carried the day.

In an even bigger victory, Marigold bested Emiliana with over 77% of the total. Given our love of Amelia and Emilia, this could’ve been a closer contest. But Marigold has been a slow burn kind of name, catching on quietly across the many years. Credit to Downton Abbey, but also to our love of obvious nature names.

With nearly 80% of the vote, Georgina clobbered Xyla. Maybe this was predictable. Xyla is kind of an oddity, a high value Scrabble name in four compact letters. While Georgina is Georgia’s more sophisticated cousin.

The closest match of the week saw Nori narrowly best Meilani, earning just over 55% of the total. That’s still a definitive win, though, and Eleanor/Nora nickname Nori advances while Hawaiian-ish Meilani takes a seat.

That means four names advance … and voting is open in the next round now!

NEW NAMES SHOWDOWN: GIRLS SEMIFINALS

CIELO v NORI

 

MARIGOLD v GEORGINA

 

Thanks for voting! Polls stay open through Wednesday, July 19th! Check back next Saturday, July 22nd to see which names advance – and, of course, to vote in the next round.