Inside The Girl of the Year Creation Lab

Theorizing a bit yesterday about a potential future GOTY was fun, considering info about Summer came out so early I couldn't really come up with many theories. I was thinking about it a bit, and I have noted that there are several patterns when it comes to future Girls of the Year. Today, I decided to explain the patterns a bit more and what they mean when dolls are being created.

Firstly, why are there even patterns in the first place? Why aren't there original ideas every single year? The answer is simple: because AG can get away with it. Back in the 2000s and early 2010s when the Girl of the Year line first started, American Girl had a unique audience who had experienced every theme that they put out for the Girl of the Year every year, so they were obligated to do unique things. But around the mid-2010s, things started changing. The girls who grew up with Marisol and Jess and Nicki and the original Girls of the Year were in high school and their twenties, not caring who the new Girl of the Year would be, while the target audience for these dolls were new ten year olds who weren't alive when some of the older Girl of the Years were released, or were too young to remember when they were.

So this makes things a little bit easier for me when predicting new Girls of the Year. I've been able to analyze the timeline of what typically happens with the dolls based on four-year cycles (the average interest of a girl in American Girl is four years, either six through ten or eight through twelve), and today, I decided to share this with you so you all can understand what I think during the theory season!

2024/2028/2032/2036/2040: Basically, if it's a leap year, if it's a election year, if it's an Olympic year, whatever you want to call it, THE DOLL IS GOING TO BE HAVE SOME SORT OF OLYMPIC CONNECTION. It's a rule of thumb that has been exercised ever since 2008, the first Olympic year to have a Girl of the Year, had Mia the ice skater. Then in 2012, McKenna was a gymnast, 2016, Lea went to Brazil (the location of the 2016 Olympics), in 2020, Joss was into surfing (surfing was set to make it's Olympic debut in 2020 prior to the pandemic delaying the games to 2021), and in 2024, Lila was another gymnast coached by McKenna. Expect a sporty doll (or a traveler to whatever country) every time it's a leap year.

MY 2028 THOUGHTS: Actually, the Olympics are going to take place in Los Angeles in 2028! Expect a sporty LA girl then!

2021/2025/2029/2033/2037: More recently, this has been the section of the calendar that is marked for an animal lover. Summer, Girl of the Year 2025, is a entrepreneur when it comes to treat baking and dog walking, and Kira, Girl of the Year 2021, loved animals in a different way. Saige was a horse girl in 2013, Chrissa had her llama in 2009... but sometimes, this is where the dancers and performers go to break the pattern. In 2017, Gabriela was a dancer (though she was a replacement for Tenney, who was supposed to be a singer), and in 2005, Marisol was also a dancer. So it usually goes, Dancer/Animal Lover/Animal Lover/Dancer/Animal Lover/Animal Lover.

MY 2029 THOUGHTS: We're due for another dancer or performer in this spot in 2029! Time for American Girl to reuse items from Marisol, Isabelle and Gabriela's collections all over again!

2022/2026/2030/2034/2038: This used to be the animal lover section, with Jess and Lanie being outdoorsy and loving animals, but nowadays, it's usually the wildcard. Corinne loved skiing, Luciana loved space, Isabelle was a dancer... yeah. This is the section where American Girl usually picks a unique interest (or picks one from random from a past Girl of the Year from ten-fifteen years ago) and gives the doll a hair streak. That's literally the connecting thread in this section - Corinne had blue streaks, Luciana had purple streaks, Isabelle had pink streaks. Also, the diversity of this doll could go either way - most recently this is where AG has been putting dolls of color, but there have also been a few blondes.

MY 2026 THOUGHTS: Summer is a blonde, so I'm predicting this to be the year where American Girl picks photography out of the "random Girl of the Year interest from 10 years ago" generator and gives us a doll of color who is also a photographer.

2023/2027/2031/2035/2039: This is another tricky one... Kavi, Blaire, Grace, Kanani and Nicki are the ones who have fallen into this side of the calendar, and aside from the cooking interest that Blaire and Grace had and Kavi and Kanani both having medium skin... I'm not seeing that many threads. Except maybe animals? Nicki, Kanani, Grace and Blaire all had a pet that was a vital part of their story, but Kavi got thrown into here as a wildcard. So I guess usually an animal, sometimes cooking, but it's anything goes here as well.

MY 2027 THOUGHTS: A girl who has an interest that is not animals, but has a pet involved in their story heavily somehow. And the wildcard still makes yesterday's theory about a civically-minded girl if we get a female president work...

OH! One more thing before I post this. Every 5 years, without fail, AG's Girl of the Year has traveled to a different country or lived in a unique part of the country.

Jess went to Belize. Kanani lived in Hawaii. Lea went to Brazil. Kira went to Australia.

2026's Girl of the Year? Put an arrow on a map and pick a random country, because she's gonna be a world traveler somehow!