Drum roll, please!
The votes are in and we have two more champions to join our list of victors in the annual New Names Showdown.
But first, what is the New Names Showdown 2026?
EVERY YEAR BRINGS NEW TOP NAMES
Every year, when the US Social Security Administration updates their popularity data, there are risers and fallers. Some names debut in the US Top 1000 for the very first time. Others return after an absence. It could be just a year off, a tiny wobble out of the data. But often, it’s decades of hibernation.
Those new and returning names attract a lot of attention, even if they’re only being given to 300 kids or so. (The average Top Ten name is given to around 10,000 kids in a single year.)
Many will eventually climb the popularity charts, becoming established favorites.
After all, names don’t skyrocket to #1 – or even #27 or #113 – overnight. It takes time for expectant parents to consider their options.
Appellation Mountain readers excel at spotting those trends.
So every year, after the Social Security Administration releases the new popularity data, I choose eight boys’ names and eight girls’ names.
Then it’s your turn to vote your way through ’em, bracket-style, until just two names are left standing.
In 2026, we started with:
BEST NEW GIRL NAMES
- KYOMI (#548)
- ODETTE (#883)
- MARIEL (#893)
- ELIORA (#914)
- WINIFRED (#923)
- DARLA (#941)
- ELARA (#942)
- LAKEN (#990)
BEST NEW BOY NAMES
- JASAI (#439)
- HAZIEL (#795)
- COAST (#875)
- BOAZ (#891)
- MARCELLO (#900)
- BECK (#913)
- STONE (#916)
- MONTGOMERY (#962)
As of last week, we had reached the finals! Here’s how they turned out.
RESULTS OF THE FINAL MATCHES
WINIFRED versus ODETTE
With just over 57% of the total, antique Winifred bested the equally vintage Odette. One reason Winifred might’ve pulled off the win? We’re wild for Winnie, a nickname that entered the US Top 500 as an independent choice this year.
MONTGOMERY versus BECK
It was the year for long names, as Montgomery swept past Beck, again with more than 57% of the total. Montgomery is a name I’ve been watching for years, and it feels like this is the right moment for a surname name with the same little gentleman vibes as Theodore or Sebastian. Jaunty nickname Monty is a bonus.
That means that Winifred and Montgomery are our 2026 New Names Showdown champions, joining an elite group of names.
WINNING GIRL NAMES
From our first contest in 2016 to today, here are the names that have won each year.
- Winifred (2026)
- Romy (2025)
- Seraphina (2024)
- Marigold (2023)
- Guinevere (2022)
- Etta (2021)
- Elodie (2020)
- Zora (2019)
- Marlowe (2018)
- Sylvie (2017)
- Arden (2016)
WINNING BOY NAMES
And on the boys’ side, here’s the complete list of victors.
- Montgomery (2026)
- Heath (2025)
- Hollis (2024)
- Rhodes (2023)
- Benedict (2022)
- Leif (2021)
- Callahan (2020)
- Archie (2019)
- Wells (2018)
- Shepherd (2017)
- Wilder (2016)
One of the things I love most? Even though we vote our way through the boy names and girl names independently, most years the winners sound so compatible. From 2022’s Guinevere and Benedict to 2018’s Marlowe and Wells, I feel like readers really do have a vibe that guides their thinking – even if it’s not always obvious until we see the results.
That’s all for this year’s New Names Showdown. Thank you, as ever, for your votes!
