It's rare for a TV comedy to inspire serious fan theories. Sure, shippers will speculate on the fate of various couples or how a specific storyline might end, but sitcoms don't tend to warrant the same intense predictions that dramas like Breaking Bad or True Detective might. Except for How I Met Your Mother. Maybe it's because the mystery is right there in the title, or that the series basically waited until the last season to start solving it, but there are tons of How I Met Your Mother theories, ranging from the mother's mortality to something much simpler: her name. It's been nine years and we still don't know the mother's name, leading some fans believe that the March 10 episode holds a clue.
The title of the episode is "Daisy," so they can't help but wonder, is that the mother's name? It's one of the best leads we have, because while HIMYM has dropped a lot of hints about the mother throughout the series (we know her favorite poet, breakfast habits, college major, what color umbrella she uses and more), it has never given her a name. Here are some theories that for once, don't revolve around her death.
Daisy
It's not likely that the mother's name will end up being Daisy, simply because it's the episode title. That information is revealed well in advance of the episode airing and it's doubtful that the HIMYM writers would reveal so big a secret in such an obvious way. If anything, they may have purposely named the episode "Daisy" to mislead fans.
The only evidence to support her name being Daisy is that she would have a flower name like Lily, which is kind of cute, and she wore a flower dress once. I predict that Daisy will end up being a different character's name, or perhaps the name of a painting since the episode will focus on Lily secretly visiting the Captain, for whom she is an art collector.
Tracy
Way back in Season 1, Ted and Robin accompanied Barney to a strip club on Thanksgiving in the episode "Belly Full of Turkey." While there, Ted pays for someone else's lap dance, prompting a stripper named Amber to approach him and offer him a free one. Ted introduces himself, the stripper says that her real name is actually Tracy and voiceover-Ted says, "And that's the story of how I met your mother." His kids look shocked, before he reveals that he is joking.
But for the kids to be shocked, they had to believe the story, which would imply that their mother's name actually is Tracy. It's definitely the most plausible theory and the reveal would be a nice callback to the show's first season, just before it comes to an end.
Raven
Ted has been in love with Robin for way too long. What better way to realize that someone else is actually the one than to give her another bird name? It doesn't have to be Raven, but I just don't think Cristin Milioti looks like a Pigeon, do you?
Leia
Ted is a pretty huge Star Wars fan, and if he ever met a woman named Leia, I'm pretty sure he'd marry her on the spot. Maybe the mother's parents were huge fans too and named her after their favorite character. It was recently revealed that Ted and the mother name their own son Luke, so they could have been continuing a tradition.
Rotunda, Balconet, etc.
Ted is an architect who truly loves architecture. We've seen him teach classes on the subject, spend hours making models and be offered jobs that in real life, he would hardly be qualified for. Maybe the mother has an architectural name. Rotunda and Balconet might not be the most common of names, but there have to be other building-related terms that would work.
Denise
Carter Bays and Craig Thomas co-created How I Met Your Mother and were probably the only people who knew anything significant about the mother for a long, long time. The series is inspired by a certain period in their lives and Ted himself is loosely based on Bays, who's wife is named Denise. It's a long shot, but would be a romantic gesture of Mosby-proportions.
Images: CBS, Disney
