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Nearly 9,500 name suggestions were submitted by the public for the new Portland transit bridge, and a 10-person committee representing Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah counties has narrowed the possibilities to fewer than 10.

Committee members were mum on the names still under consideration or those that were rejected.

The committee selected the best names of those that met standards of historic, geographic, cultural and/or geological significance, said Chet Orloff, head of the Bridge Naming Committee.

“We wanted to boil it down to six to 10 names,” he said. “Those will be the ones that go (back) out to the public.”

The short list will be announced on Jan. 16, 2014, according to TriMet, and the public will be able to weigh in on it through March 1.

“We want to get a sense of public reaction, then refine that down to three names that everyone can live with and are really good,” Orloff said.

Neil McFarlane, TriMet’s general manager, will choose the final name; it will be announced by spring 2014, Orloff said.

The bridge, which will be used by light rail trains, streetcars, buses, bicyclists and pedestrians, will open as part of the entire Portland-Milwaukie light-rail system on Sept. 12, 2015.