By Abby Sandel and Linda Rosenkrantz

　　Whew!

　　If we’ve ever had the slightest doubts about the creativity of the Nameberry community, they are hereby gone forever.

　　When we announced our latest Invent-a-Baby-Name challenge two weeks ago, we expected something like the healthy response we got last time—which was 222 entries.

　　This time we were overwhelmed by 590 separate responses. And since we generously invited you to not limit yourself to a single suggestion,  some of the comments packed with dozens of names, as you opened the floodgates to your inventive ideas, bringing the total number of names well into the several thousands. Our intrepid intern, Laura, counted 5,665 separate entries!

　　After painstakingly (and exhaustedly) considering every single name, we soon realized that it would be almost impossible to narrow down the winner to just one name.

　　And so we have broken it down into seven of the most highly represented categories—after realizing that inventing a name doesn’t have to mean completely creating one out of whole cloth, but could also include transforming words and surnames and place names that haven’t been used for real-life kids before into viable baby names. In fact, one of our prime criteria was wearability–could we see this name actually being used?

　　The overall winner for 2016 is at the very bottom of the post, but first, let’s look at some of the best invented names entered this year, with the favorite name in each category in boldface type!

　　PLACE NAMES

　　Real and imaginary, which place names could be the next London, Savannah, or Brooklyn?

　　Corinth–@Lu and @KiratheViolist

　　Elsinore @superllama

　　Finland @Gabe1216 – “a cool way to get to the nickname Finn”

　　Genovia @MelanieCora

　　Lisbon @Genevieve Apple

　　Rivendell @EmmaMay “an amazing LOTR middle”

　　Saratoga @denmama9 “a substitute for Western place name Cheyenne”

　　Tenerife @Wittyusername103

　　Yukon @lesliemarion; @BrennanotBrenda

　　SMOOSH NAMES

　　This was by far the most popular category.

　　Add an –ella or a –dora, and many names are completely transformed.

　　Amaluna – @CordeliaAnne

　　Analou @grace_newgrace

　　Annadora – @Theodora_Phoenix – gift of grace

　　Arabeth @dolphinmama, @cmwillard, @gummybear0724

　　Arastella @mom2one2

　　Claris – @TiffanyS – Claire + Paris

　　Dashton @Theodora_Phoenix, @graciebeth

　　Evermae @KatieNana “happy spring day”

　　Leodore @Angelicaecb

　　Lunabella @Theodora_Phoenix

　　Minabel @Abeltrotter

　　Williot @Louisa91

　　PURE INVENTION

　　Where’s the line between a smoosh and a completely new name? It’s a tough call! Here are some names that strike us as most original.

　　Aero @Reem151, @namenerd27

　　Ardo – @babynameaddict

　　Azella @dindlee

　　Barjo @clairels

　　Briary @alternativekeys

　　Brixby @trysaratops

　　Dainu @Myn

　　Elizette @alchemicallypurplefairy, @fluffykitten101

　　Ellatrix – @tree_loves_eth “Bellatrix without the B”

　　Esmerine – @OrchidLover

　　Evellia – @ElenaCroatia

　　Everson @Louisa91, @cmwillard, @tree_loves_eth

　　Finnix @homebytheriver

　　Floralie @JRideout, @emmakj111

　　Jaspian @emsky, @alliebelle

　　Killiam @missmarvelous

　　Livi @ KenzieJo

　　Lorian @bexlafon

　　Mardon @mellimoon

　　Mavery @Emilyjh

　　Megany @birdies

　　Rylo @SeaZuno86 “everybody loves a good ends in -o boys name”

　　Vinco @caroblaise “means I win in Latin”

　　Xanith @xhart

　　Xolo @frobskottle

　　Zaro @JLS123

　　Zosie @lyndskyns

　　SURNAMES

　　With last names like Mason and Harper in the current US Top Ten, parents are eager to promote new possibilities to the first name spot.

　　Berlioz @McCharlie

　　Carrigan @homebytheriver

　　Curie @pinholecamera

　　Dahl @weaverblue

　　Daltrey @Rhii

　　Farrow @lemlem

　　Hawkins @bandgeek10182, @SeaZuno86

　　Knightley @Louisa91

　　Locksley @Tolkeinlove – Robin Hood

　　Loxley @Aquadole – Robin Hood

　　Magellan @McCharlie, @ChiefTidalWaveEngineer

　　Minton @lesliemarion

　　WORD NAMES

　　Sure, these words have history. But they’ve seldom been heard as given names – at least until now.

　　Bolt @lovelynames, @keelyjoelle

　　Betony – @lesliemarion

　　Caliber @jimtown “high powered”

　　Castle – @Alimax

　　Chord – @mariank – musical term

　　Credence @jlstrk

　　Diver @Chrissy425

　　Evergreen @dolphinmama; @BrennanotBrenda

　　Fen @FizzySparkle

　　Fennec @larkrub101

　　Gladiola @lesliemarion

　　Helix @lovelyname, @McCharlie, @Bookworm857158367, @katoolah

　　Kestrel @Tay2thestars @ToyaB

　　Lanai @Renchickadee

　　Levity @frobskottle

　　Lively @Ashleylynnxoxo, @grace147

　　Linen @Readingclaygirl

　　Loden @lovelynames

　　Meridian @RoddyThlayli, @Apodosis, @Elle C.

　　Oasis @aquadoll

　　Pier @grace147, @blaise11

　　Psalm @Essa @GreenEyes375

　　Schooner @Daisy5683

　　Shore @shalispider, @grace147

　　Sunset @Laugh-Dream-Love

　　Taiga @ArdenT.Lee

　　Teller @larkub101, @Abby_Shield

　　Tourmaline @EasterBunny

　　Tracker @Louisa91

　　Trekker @ lyndskyns, @Sagebrush

　　Veranda @caroblaise, @lesliemarion, @graciebeth

　　Verily @wfuller

　　Wildrose @Alialioxenfree3

　　IMPORTS

　　Plenty of names take inspiration from languages other than English.

　　Adalet @Louisa91 “means justice in Turkish”

　　Corbeau @Essa “greenish black”Minoo @Louisa91 “paradise or heaven in Persian” (also French word for raven)

　　Mielle @kymbrrlee “from miel, the French word for honey”Miramar @Amy1512 “means look at the sea in Spanish”

　　Plume @Gondolin “French word name” though this fits with Word Names, too.

　　Seith @weaverblue “Welsh name meaning seven”

　　Yanci @Joiya “means liberty in Hausa”

　　ISN’T THAT ALREADY A NAME?

　　Yes, but they were not in our database!

　　Coppelia @Lu

　　Esmeray @JRideout

　　Regulus @Angelicaecb “One of the brightest stars … from Latin for Rex, king”

　　AND THE WINNER IS …

　　How can we narrow down over 5,600 names to just one favorite? We ruled out any that were already in our database, and also deleted names that made last year’s list of finalists.

　　That still left more than a dozen favorites, including Hawkins – a two-fer to cool nickname Hawk, lacy virtue name Verily, adventurous Magellan, the invented Rylo, and smoosh names Lunabella and Evermae.

　　But the winning name for 2016’s Invent-a-Name contest is TREKKER.

　　Bragging rights and credit in the database go to lyndskyns. (Sagebrush mentioned it, too, but lyndskyns was first.)

　　Trekker takes the prize because it fits right in with current trends. It’s outdoorsy and rugged, edgy and cool. It brings to mind hiking, even blazing a trail. Now that Wilder is in the US Top 1000, Trekker remains a viable under-the-radar pick.

　　It’s also one of the true rarities on this list. While some have been used in small numbers, Trekker has never been given to even five children in a single year – making it a truly novel name.

　　***Huge thanks to all you Berries for the incredible effort you put into this, and congrats to all who made the cut–especially those whose user names appears more than once!