Boy Scouts said on Wednesday that it would drop "boy" from its name in a bid to attract more girls to its program.

The newly named Scouts BSA will start accepting girls next year.

Girl Scouts' CEO fired back at the name-change announcement, saying, "We are, and will remain, the first choice for girls and parents."

The organization also tweeted: "Fact: Girl Scouts works. That's why we're the best leadership development organization for girls in the world."

Boy Scouts is changing its name to Scouts BSA.

The decision to drop "boy" from its name comes as it prepares to start accepting girls into its program next year.

Girl Scouts fired back shortly after the announcement.

"Fact: Girl Scouts works," the organization tweeted. "That's why we're the best leadership development organization for girls in the world."

Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo responded to name-change announcement in an emailed statement to Business Insider.

"We are, and will remain, the first choice for girls and parents who want to provide their girls opportunities to build new skills, explore STEM and the outdoors, participate in community projects, and grow into happy, successful, civically engaged adults," Acevedo said.

Girl Scouts has previously criticized the decision to start accepting girls into the Boy Scouts program.

In a letter to Boy Scouts of America last year, the Girl Scouts accused the organization of seeking to "upend a paradigm that has served both boys and girls so well through the years by moving forward with a plan that would result in fundamentally undercutting Girl Scouts of the USA."

The name of the programs' parent organization will remain the Boy Scouts of America.

Michael Surbaugh, chief scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America, said Wednesday that the name change was necessary because the organization is entering a "new era."

"It is important that all youth can see themselves in scouting in every way possible," he said. "That is why it is important that the name for our scouting program for older youth remain consistent with the single-name approach used for the Cub Scouts."