Name Madness Winners!

"Claire Dunphy" a.k.a. Julie Bowen via Wikipedia

It's time to announce the winners of this year's Name Madness! It was another close one for the girls, and not as close for the boys. Forty people voted and here are the results:

Claire 52.5%
Penelope 47.5%

Emmett 37.5%
Henry 62.5%

Congratulations to Claire and Henry! They beat out 70 other character names...

Claire was in the play-in round, beating Diana to enter the main rounds. It then beat Virginia, Zoe, Ramona, Josephine, and Penelope. Claire's closest competition was Penelope.

Henry beat Tyrion, Axl, Luke, James and Emmett. Henry's closest competition was Emmett.

What do you think? Would you have predicted these results? I think next time I will ask for predictions before the voting starts. ;) Thank you so much for participating and keep an eye out for another round of Name Madness next year!

Name Madness - FINAL ROUND

photo by Zagrev via Flickr

We started out with 72 names. Now we are down to 4.

This is it! The last round for Name Madness 2012! Thirty-one people voted in Round 4 and here are the results:

#1
Claire 55%
Josephine 45%

#2
Penelope 52%
Daphne 48%

#3
Declan 42%
Emmett 58%

#4
Henry 65%
James 35%

The matches were all pretty close except for Henry vs. James. I am sad that James lost, but if it has to lose to anyone, I'm glad it was to Henry.

When we started this tournament, did you have any idea that these would be the final names?

So, here we are. The final vote. Out of our 72 character names, which is going to be the tops for girls and which is going to be the tops for boys? You have the next week to VOTE! The Final Round ends Sunday, December 16. Winners will be announced Monday, December 17. Please vote only once and for only one name in each match. Have fun!

Name Madness - Round 4

photo by szczel via Flickr

We are getting down to the wire! Thank you to the forty-four people who voted in Round 3! We didn't have any ties this time, but someone did vote for both options in one of the matches, hence a percentage that doesn't equal 100%. Here are the winners:

#1
Claire 77%
Ramona 23%

#2
Josephine 61%
Matilda 39%

#3
Penelope 73%
Juliette 30%

#4
Camille 45%
Daphne 55%

#5
Declan 52%
Nolan 48%

#6
Conrad 34%
Emmett 66%

#7
Henry 64%
Luke 36%

#8
Brody 23%
James 77%

Wow... the Elite Eight is full of great match-ups! Match-ups made up of classic names that stand the test of time. How will you choose?

You have the next week to VOTE! Round 4 ends Sunday, December 9. Please vote only once and for only one name in each match. Have fun!

Name Madness - Round 3

photo by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

Thank you to everyone who voted in Round 2! We had 44 responses this time and I'm so encouraged that the votes are increasing with each round. Round 2 had some close matches, one tie (involving Matilda again), and a few landslides (poor Sheldon). Here are the results (winner in bold):

#1
Claire 66%
Zoe 34%

#2
Ramona 52%
Elena 48%

#3
Josephine 55%
Genevieve 45%

#4
Celia 50%
Matilda 50%

#5
Hazel 48%
Penelope 52%

#6
Savannah 25%
Juliette 75%

#7
Camille 64%
Primrose 36%

#8
Willow 48%
Daphne 52%

#9
Pierce 41%
Declan 59%

#10
Thayer 39%
Nolan 61%

#11
Winston 41%
Conrad 59%

#12
Emmett 80%
Troy 20%

#13
Henry 86%
Axl 14%

#14
Luke 91%
Sheldon 9%

#15
Brody 66%
Saul 34%

#16
Frederick 25%
James 75%

Are you surprised that a certain name is still around? Are you disappointed that a certain name lost?

Using these results, I have created the ballot for Round 3. It's the Sweet Sixteen and voting is just going to get harder and harder as the number of names dwindle. You have the next week to VOTE! Round 3 ends Sunday, December 2. Please vote only once and for only one name in each match. Have fun!

Name Madness - Round 2

photo by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

The results from Round 1 are in! I'm pleased to announce that thirty-nine people voted in this round, an increase from the twenty who voted last round. There were some big wins as well as a couple of ties, and you will now find out that tie-breaker goes to ME! There were also a few people who voted for both names in certain matches and in those cases, the percentages do not equal 100%. I understand some of these matches are hard, but please only vote for one name! Both ties were in matches where someone voted for both options. Here are the tallies for Round 1 (winners in bold):

#1
Virginia 26%
Claire 74%

#2
Bay 44%
Zoe 56%

#3
Ramona 51%
Margaret 51%

#4
Elena 85%
Regina 15%

#5
Anastasia 41%
Josephine 59%

#6
Edith 18%
Genevieve 82%

#7
Haddie 41%
Celia 59%

#8
Matilda 51%
Caroline 51%

#9
Mallory 28%
Hazel 72%

#10
Auden 23%
Penelope 77%

#11
Savannah 59%
Britta 41%

#12
Juliette 56%
Serena 46%

#13
Marian 38%
Camille 62%

#14
Astrid 41%
Primrose 59%

#15
Willow 72%
Arya 28%

#16
Daphne 72%
Hermoine 31%

#17
Deacon 36%
Pierce 64%

#18
Declan 51%
Hugo 49%

#19
Thayer 59%
Artie 41%

#20
Nolan 85%
Hoyt 15%

#21
Toby 26%
Winston 54%

#22
Conrad 72%
Archie 28%

#23
Emmett 77%
Damon 23%

#24
Gunnar 36%
Troy 64%

#25
Henry 87%
Tyrion 13%

#26
Gaius 38%
Axl 62%

#27
Luke 79%
Dexter 21%

#28
Sheldon 69%
Sherlock 31%

#29
Brody 56%
Malcolm 44%

#30
Brick 33%
Saul 67%

#31
Bertram 10%
Frederick 90%

#32
Cedric 44%
James 56%

What do you think? Any surprises? Any disappointments? I was a little sad to see Haddie go (although I prefer Hattie), and I wonder if you all really like Frederick or really dislike Bertram.

Using these results, I have created the ballot for Round 2. More great matches await you. You have the next week to VOTE! Round 2 ends Sunday, November 25. Please vote only once and for only one name in each match. Have fun!

Name Madness - Round 1

We're off to a great start! We had 20 voters for Round 0.5... let's shoot for more this week!

The results for Round 0.5 are as follows:

#1
McLean 3
Virginia 17

#2
Claire 16
Diana 4

#3
Macon 6
Deacon 14

#4
Gilbert 3
Pierce 17

You all definitely had your favorites in these first matches! There were no close calls in the play-in round and the winners will now move on to Round 1. Thanks to a friend, I found a better way to collect your votes for the remainder of the tournament. The ballot for Round 1 is embedded below. I apologize for any imperfect formatting on the blog. And for those who are wondering where these names came from, below the ballot is a list of the references for each character name.

Note: If you printed out the brackets from the Round 0.5 post, you will need to make a correction on it. I mistakenly included the name Damon twice. I have replaced the Damon from Match 27 with Luke.

I am so excited about a lot of these match-ups and can't wait to see the results! Have fun making your selections! Please vote only once and for only one name in each match.



Here is the list of where I got the character names. I realize that a lot of these names have more than one possible reference, but I list the one where it first caught my eye for this tournament:

McLean - What Happened to Goodbye
Diana - Anne of Green Gables
Virginia - Raising Hope
Claire - The Breakfast Club
Bay - Switched at Birth
Zoe - Firefly
Ramona - Ramona Quimby
Margaret - Little Women
Elena - Vampire Diaries
Regina - Once Upon a Time
Anastasia - Battlestar Galactica
Josephine - Little Women
Edith - Downton Abbey
Genevieve - White Girl Problems
Haddie - Parenthood
Celia - As You Like It
Matilda - Matilda
Caroline - Little House
Mallory - Family Ties
Hazel - The Fault in our Stars
Auden - Along for the Ride
Penelope - The Big Bang Theory
Savannah - Dear John
Britta - Community
Juliette - Nashville
Serena - Gossip Girl
Marian - Where We Belong
Camille - Parenthood
Astrid - White Oleander
Primrose - Hunger Games
Willow - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Arya - Game of Thrones
Daphne - Switched at Birth
Hermoine - Harry Potter

Macon - Someone Like You
Gilbert - Anne of Green Gables
Deacon - Nashville
Pierce - Community
Declan - Revenge
Hugo - Hugo
Thayer - The Lying Game
Artie - Glee
Nolan - Once Upon a Time
Hoyt - True Blood
Toby - Switched at Birth
Winston - New Girl
Conrad - Revenge
Archie - Once Upon a Time
Emmett - Back to the Future
Damon - Vampire Diaries
Gunnar - Nashville
Troy - Community
Henry - Once Upon a Time
Tyrion - Game of Thrones
Gaius - Battlestar Galactica
Axl - The Middle
Luke - Star Wars
Dexter - Dexter
Sheldon - The Big Bang Theory
Sherlock - Sherlock Holmes
Brody - Glee
Malcolm - Firefly
Brick - Hart of Dixie
Saul - Battlestar Galactica
Bertram - All's Well That Ends Well
Frederick - Persuasion
Cedric - Harry Potter
James - James Bond

Let Name Madness 2012 Begin!

While those in the United States are making their vote for President count this week, I invite everyone to make their vote count here on NameFreak! It's time for Name Madness!

I would like to thank you all so much for your character name contributions. You gave me a huge field to work with and after I chose the 68 names to be included, they were randomly placed in 34 matches. The resulting match-ups are going to be tough, but a lot of fun. A wide variety of names from books, movies and television are now subject to your votes!

Here is how it works. The brackets are set up just like in the basketball tournament. Instead of the teams playing a game to determine the winner, you pick the name you prefer from each "match" or pairing for each round. I will tally up the results and then post the next round with the winners of the previous round, at which point you will choose the name that you prefer in the new matches, and so on until we have a winner for girls and a winner for boys. I will leave each round open for a week, so make sure you make your mark and vote as soon as you can!

To complicate things further, I have decided to do a play-in round, or Round 0.5.  We will start things slow this week; you will vote on only four matches, the winners of which will go on to compete in Round 1 next week. Here are the matches:

ROUND 0.5

#1
McLean
Virginia

#2
Claire
Diana

#3
Macon
Deacon

#4
Gilbert
Pierce

I searched for a way of doing a survey online, but realized the easiest way for me to collect your votes is through the comments. So, in your comment, put the number of each pairing and the name you choose. For example: #1 McLean, #2 Claire, #3 Macon, etc. (Probably the easiest way to do this would be to copy the list, paste it into your comment, and then delete the name that is NOT your choice.)

I have created a document you can print out to help you see the process more clearly. You can see it below or access it here. Each match is color coded, and you can write the winner of each round over the number of the match. You can also use it to keep track of your votes by circling your choice. You may have also noticed that Round 1 is also already printed on it, so you have a sneak peak of next week's matches.



You have through Sunday, November 11 to vote for Round 0.5! The winners will be announced next Monday, November 12, along with the matches for Round 1. And then we do it all over again. :)

Spread the word so we can have as many votes as possible! Have fun!

Name Madness Prep

If you follow me on Facebook, you already know that I am prepping for the next installment of Name Madness! For those of you new to NameFreak!, Name Madness is a tournament that starts with 36 girl names and 36 boy names put into brackets and you, the reader, vote each round until we reach a winner.  It's inspired by March Madness, a college basketball tournament in the United States, which uses 64 teams (I add an extra 8 names, just because, and use them in a play-in round) and several rounds to determine the annual champion. NameFreak! will use several rounds to determine the boy name "champion" and the girl name "champion" and then do a battle of the sexes for the champion of them all.

I've decided to do a theme of sorts, using characters from books, movies, or television. I need your help! Leave a comment with some of your favorites, or some of those more interesting names that would go great in a tournament!

Once I have the 72 names, I will randomly place them in the bracket and the tournament will begin. Remember though... participation is key! I will need votes in order to declare a winner. Reminders will be put on Facebook, but you can also keep checking back to the blog, or put the blog on your reader, so you can vote in each round. Thank you!