For the past few years, baby names that end in "a" for girls or "n" for boys have been wildly popular.  But this year, names like Olivia, Ava, Ethan, and Logan will have to move over for more magical and mythical choices.  

The Today Show puts it this way.  This year when we're naming babies, we'll be looking for names that bring "charm and armor, those that activate our imaginations and transcend our dark reality. Anything that remotely reminds us of coronavirus is out — probably for good."

Many parents will be looking for names with a superhero or magical touch, to protect and strengthen kids when things get tough.  Nameberry posted its top trending names for 2021 and said names meant to attract a bright future like "Brave, Noble, Legendary, and Legacy" will be popular.  Nick Cannon used the name "Powerful" for his daughter born in December.  Her full name is Powerful Queen.

Tough names like "Blaze, Rowdy, and Wild" are becoming more popular too.  The names Olivia and Liam aren't going away, soon they'll be joined by Oz and Jupiter on the kindergarten bulletin boards.

Adonis
Artemis
Brave
Cyrus
Delilah
Evander
Guinevere
Jupiter
Kali
Kylo
Legend
Lilith
Loki
Lucifer
Messiah
Mazikeen
Noble
Ophelia
Oz
Pandora
Persephone
Powerful
Savita
Titan

The newest trend in unisex names will be to end them in "-ari."  Akari, Amari,
Jahari, Kiari, Sakari, and Zamari will be popular.

The Billie Eilish effect is real too.  Billie will be a popular name for girls this year, along with strong feminine names like Frankie and Stevie.  Thank the Netflix show Grace and Frankie, and Stevie Nicks for those last two.

I heard Chris Martin of Coldplay say one time that names are just words, and any arbitrary word can be assigned to a person and it's just fine. His kids are named Apple and Moses.  I have Finley, Kallan, and Piper.  Whatever works!  And congrats on that bundle of joy too.  2021 is going to be interesting in so many ways.

KEEP READING: What were the most popular baby names from the past 100 years?

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