It’s time for the New Names Showdown 2018: the boys’ opening round.
Our aim is simple: pick the name most likely to rise sharply when the new popularity figures are released in May 2019. This is the boys’ contest; the girls’ opening round was posted earlier today.
The contenders are drawn from recently added entries to the US Top 1000. Seven were selected by the editor, and readers chose the eighth.
To qualify, a name must be debuting on the list or returning after a gap. Alternate spellings aren’t counted, even though some variations could surge in popularity on their own.
Over the next few weeks we’ll pare the field down to the Appellation Mountain community’s favorite. Then, in May 2019, we’ll see which pick climbed the most in the official names data.
Past winners include:
- In the inaugural year we crowned Wilder the New Names Showdown winner for boys. Wilder has indeed taken off since its debut, more than doubling in use and now ranking much higher in the charts.
- In 2017 we picked Shepherd, which moved up the list significantly from the prior year.
In short, we’ve done well identifying rising boys’ names—better, in fact, than our track record for girls’ selections.
So let’s think strategically and vote for the names that seem most likely to climb quickly in the near future.
Ready, set, vote!
New Names Showdown 2018 Boys Opening Round: Caspian v. Alaric
Literary Caspian faces medieval Alaric.
New Names Showdown 2018 Boys Opening Round: Wells v. Gianluca
Preppy Wells takes on Italian-flavored Gianluca.
New Names Showdown 2018 Boys Opening Round: Koa v. Simeon
Modern Koa competes with ancient Simeon.
New Names Showdown 2018 Boys Opening Round: Reign v. Ledger
Celebrity-favored Reign goes up against surname-style Ledger.
Polls will remain open until Thursday, July 12th. Check back on Saturday, July 14th to see which names advance and to vote in the next round.