From the month of December to the month of May, any full name that American Girl trademarks is fair game to be a Girl of the Year doll. However, this year, something different happened. Not one, not two, but THREE names were trademarked with full names, including two names with the same last name.
On Christmas last year, Kavika Sharma was trademarked by American Girl. Names relating to Kavika were also trademarked in Feburary, including Pegeen, a potential pet name, and the nickname Kavi, including Kavi Sharma. However, a week or two ago, two names were trademarked: Nicki and Isabel Cohen. At first, I held firm to my belief that Kavika would be the 2023 Girl of the Year, but the two trademark situation for Nicki and Isabel made me think harder. Ultimately, I made a decision on my theory for the next Girl of the Year, which I'll tell you at the end! But first, a bit about the names:
Kavika is a Indian name that means "poet" in Hindi. Her pet Pegeen is the middle name of poet Brigit Pegeen Kelly, a famous poet in the Contemporary era. Addiitonally, her nickname Kavi also means poet in Hindi, so it's clear Kavika will be a poet.
Isabel and Nicki have both been used before in the Girl of the Year line. Isabelle Palmer was Girl of the Year 2014, and Nicki Fleming was Girl of the Year 2007. It could be thought of that one of these two will be the new Girl of the Year due to Corinne, this year's doll, having a sister, but I honestly think these two will be part of World By Us. American Girl has never reused a name in the same line, and their last name is Jewish, so it would make sense as American Girl currently doesn't have a modern Jewish doll available, and AG would want to have a sister set available for longer than a few years.
Kavika, on the other hand, would be the first South Asian doll since Sonali. It would make sense to introduce an Indian doll, as India is the highest-populated country, Indian Americans are the highest-earning racial group in the United States, and the Indian American population is growing. It makes financial and representative sense to release a Indian American Girl doll as the Girl of the Year, so I believe Kavika will be GOTY 2023!
What do you think?