The new school district being created from the merger of Center Area and Monaca will not be named District X, Funny School, United Ninjas, Candyland, Henry High or the I Don't Care School District.

A joint committee of the two school boards Tuesday chose seven semifinalists from 170 suggestions submitted by residents of the two school districts, which cover Center, Monaca and Potter.

The semifinalists will be placed on a Dec. 18 referendum for students in grades 7-11 with the four most popular names advancing as finalists.

Here are the semifinalists:

• Center-Monaca/Monaca-Center -- Taken together, these two were listed on 79 nomination forms, and several Center Area school board members have already said "Center-Monaca" will be their choice.

At the suggestion of Monaca superintendent Mike Thomas, the committee elected to lump the two possibilities together to keep the student vote from being a battle over which community should be listed first.

"It will allow kids to be creative and think of things other than that," Center Superintendent Dan Matsook added.

• Moncentral -- It received 83 nominates -- more than any other name. Similar entries "Moncen," "Moncenter" and "Moncent" received 72 nominations.

The biggest negative was voiced by Center board member Tom Mowad. "Anytime I hear something starting with 'Mon' I think of down toward Monongahela," he said.

• General Brodhead -- This was nominated only three times, but "Broadhead" was named 82 times, and "Brodhead Valley," "Brodhead Trails" and "Brodhead Marshall" also were suggested.

General Daniel Brodhead -- last name rhymes with "road head" -- was commander of the western frontier during the Revolutionary War. He commanded Fort Pitt in Pittsburgh and Fort Macintosh in Beaver, among others. The road linking the two still bears his name in Beaver County, and is the main thoroughfare extends from Monaca through Center and into Moon.

Mr. Mowad said he preferred "General Brodhead" over "Broadhead" (as the road name is spelled along some stretches) because "I don't want to be named for a road." Other committee members agreed.

• Cenaca -- This blending of the two names was nominated 44 times, and similar versions, including "Centaca," were nominated 23 more times.

"I hate that one," Center Area board member Ben Fratangeli growled, and several other committee members agreed.

Mr. Mowad spoke against blended names, citing Carlynton -- a mixture of Carnegie, Rosslyn Farms and Crafton -- as a confusing example. "Where's the Carlynton exit?" he said. "No one knows where that is."

Another problem is that "Cenaca" would likely be mispronounced even more often than "Monaca" is ("Monica," anyone?), and could be confused with Seneca school district in Venango County and Seneca Valley in nearby Butler County.

• Mid-Valley -- This was nominated 31 times, and was put on the list with little comment from the committee.

It gives a nod to the district's central position in Beaver County, and "Valley" picks up on the fact that the area is often referred to as the Beaver Valley -- though that moniker also includes the Ohio Valley.

There already is a Mid Valley School District in Lackawanna County.

• Central Valley -- This was nominated seven times, and the committee chose it over "Central Beaver" and "Central."

"There are too many 'Beavers' already," Mr. Mowad said. Four of the county's 15 school districts -- Beaver Area, Big Beaver Falls, South Side Beaver and Riverside Beaver County -- include "Beaver" in their names.

There are, however, 38 school districts in Pennsylvania with "Valley" as part of their name. There are 13 with "Central" as part of their name and three with "Center."

• North Bend -- A bit of a wild card, this was nominated once. The committee preferred it, however, over "South Bend," which was nominated 24 times.

The rationale is that the district is located at the sweeping bend at the Ohio River's northernmost point. Though it is the point at which the river bends to the south, the committee members thought "North Bend" was a better description.

It also avoids confusion, since South Bend, Indiana, is well-known as the home town of Notre Dame University.

Committee members commented on a couple of other nominees -- "Penn Chapel," for Pennsylvania Avenue in Monaca and Chapel Road in Center, and "Glade Path," a translation of the Native American name for a major trail through the area -- but they did not make the list.

The committee discussed having students rank their choices, but decided to go with a simpler one-vote system. The bottom three vote-getters will be eliminated, and the vote totals will be part of the consideration when they two school boards make a final choice.