Classic Halloween costumes still dominate American search habits, with mermaids winning seven states and dinosaurs sweeping much of the Midwest.
Mental Floss reported that baby brand Chicco mined Google Trends search interest over the past 12 months across 35 classic costumes to rank the top pick in every state.
The project was simple: measure which longtime Halloween standbys people actually looked up, then map the winner state by state as the holiday approaches.
Flashy celebrity looks may grab party photos. Search traffic still points back to mermaids, dinosaurs, bats, monsters, and other old reliables.
Mermaid costumes finished first in seven states, the strongest single showing in the set.
Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York all landed on mermaids. That coastal and water-adjacent cluster is hard to miss.
Dinosaur, bat, monster, skeleton, princess, angel, and alien trailed close behind mermaid as the next most common winners nationwide.
Much of the Midwest went prehistoric. Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Dakota each ranked dinosaur first.
Bat costumes led in Alaska, Colorado, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Monster suits took Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and West Virginia.
Skeleton led Illinois, Maine, and Rhode Island. Princess won California, Tennessee, and Texas. Angel topped Maryland, Nevada, and Wyoming. Alien led Missouri, New Mexico, and North Carolina.
Vampire split Georgia and Virginia. Pumpkin took Arkansas and Wisconsin. Superhero led Mississippi and South Carolina.
Several costumes showed up in only one or two states, a reminder that local taste still punches through national fads.
Arizona’s top classic was ninja. Delaware chose devil. Kansas picked genie. Montana went knight. New Hampshire favored robot. Oklahoma landed on candy corn. South Dakota chose doctor. Utah picked witch. Vermont went fairy.
A century ago, Mental Floss noted, people mostly stuck with ghosts, pumpkins, and vampires. The Chicco map shows those older lanes never really left, they just share shelf space with mermaids and dinosaurs now.
For 2026 parties, the same report said costumed crowds may still chase celebrity and series looks, naming JLo, Maverick from Amazon Prime’s Off Campus, Dolly Parton, and Bad Bunny-inspired turns among the expected side trends.
That forecast sits beside the harder number in the file: when Chicco limited the race to 35 classics and scored a full year of Google Trends interest, states did not crown the latest viral bit. They crowned mermaids, dinosaurs, bats, and other staples.
Parents buying for trick-or-treat night, and adults hunting a clean costume aisle option, appear to search the same familiar catalog. Regional patterns held, water states on mermaids, wide interior stretches on dinosaurs, more tightly than any single celebrity news cycle.
Halloween does not need a committee to revise every October. When Americans type what they want to wear, the classics still win the map.
