The sun is blazing outside. Time to pour a glass of something cold and enjoy the best way to beat the summer heat: the annual New Names Showdown.
Confused? Let me explain.
Every year, usually in May, the US Social Security Administration reveals the 1000 most popular names for boys and girls born during the prior calendar year.
Most years, the Top Ten doesn’t change much.
Instead, the most interesting part is often waiting higher up on the list. Every year, a few dozen names debut in the US Top 1000, or return after an absence. And these names? They give us lots to think about.
Sometimes they do reflect broader cultural trends. (Hello, Carlo and Halo.) Other times, they represent sounds and styles that we love. (Looking at you, Kace and Kase!) Often it’s a little bit of both.
But once they make the list, names tend to get more attention. And that means they often rise in use even more.
The May 2025 update included 45 new and returning names for boys. (That’s pretty average.)
Every summer, I choose a handful of those newcomers. And you vote your way through them, bracket-style, until we’ve chosen the very best of the new names 2025.
How should you vote? Best can mean the names you can see catching on in the coming years. Or it might mean the names you like best for a future child of your own, or just names you think deserve more attention.
There are no hard-and-fast rules. Except, of course, please do vote! Because it’s your input that determines the next winner.
PAST CHAMPIONS
This year’s winner will join:
- Hollis (2024)
- Rhodes (2023)
- Benedict (2022)
- Leif (2021)
- Callahan (2020)
- Archie (2019)
- Wells (2018)
- Shepherd (2017)
- Wilder (2016)
This year’s contenders are:
- AZAI #921
- BRYER #866
- CARLO #914
- HEATH #848
- LAITH #973
- OZIAS #861
- ROWDY #926
- TRUCE #991
Your votes choose the winner of this year’s New Names Showdown!
THE MATCH-UPS
HEATH versus TRUCE
OZIAS versus LAITH
BRYER versus ROWDY
CARLO versus AZAI
Voting stays open until July 23rd. Please check back on July 24th to see which names advance, and of course, to vote in the next round!
