The most popular baby names for 2021
It's such an exciting part of your pregnancy and new parent journey — deciding what to call your baby! There's tons of inspiration out there, whether you're on the lookout for something completely unique, a gender-neutral name, something to celebrate your heritage, or a classic name that will never go out of style.
According to Nameberry, this year the predicted most popular baby names centre around our hope for a better 2021, with names rooted in protection and strength, heros and antiheroes, and names celebrating the great outdoors that we all came to truly appreciate last year.
Vintage and ethereal names rule for girls, while woodsy names are hot for boys. Bonus points all around if there’s a connection to nature in there somewhere.
On the flip side, popular names for 2020 such as Cora and Cove have taken a dive thanks to the words “coronavirus” and “COVID”, which we've all heard quite enough of — so naturally, names with similar sounds have been stricken from parents’ lists.
Baby Names Generator: Find the perfect one for you!
Check out the most popular baby names so far for 2021:
- Ada
- Adelaide
- Adonis
- Aiko — since we were unable to travel far last year, 2021 is the year our baby names travel for us! Expect lots of Japanese names as the name origin most likely to rise this year.
- Akari — The latest craze in unisex names is those that end in -ari. They are largely gender-neutral. Some are rooted in Japanese or Swahili culture, others the creation of inventive parents wanting a trendy but still unusual name.
- Akuma
- Amari
- Amaya
- Artemis
- Ayla
- Azami
- Azari
- Baird
- Bear
- Billie — A lot of names on this list centre around the pop culture influence of singer Billie Eilish, full name Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell. Nameberry predict that Billie will reenter the top 1000 this year for the first time since the last century.
- Birdie
- Brave
- Camari
- Chihiro
- Clover
- Connell
- Cyrus
- Delilah
- Dove — Avian names, particuarly for middle names, are also on the rise thanks to a flock of 2020 celebrity babies with bird-related names.
- Eilish
- Emari
- Esme
- Evander
- Ever — In 2021, Ever- names are going to be, well, everywhere.
- Everard
- Everest
- Everett
- Everlee
- Everleigh
- Everly
- Everlyn
- Everlynn
- Evers
- Everson
- Everton
- Falcon
- Faye
- Finneas
- Fletcher
- Flora
- Frankie
- Goku
- Guinevere
- Haven
- Hawk
- Hazel
- Imari
- Jahari
- Jane
- Jessie
- Josie
- Jupiter
- Kali
- Kamari
- Kaori
- Khari
- Kiari
- Kylo
- Kyomi
- Lark
- Layla
- Legend
- Lilith
- Loki
- Lucifer
- Mabel
- Maeve
- Maisie
- Mazikeen
- Messiah
- Midori
- Mika
- Nightingale
- Noble
- Opal
- Ophelia
- Oz
- Pandora
- Peregrine
- Persephone
- Phaedra
- Phoenix
- Pirate
- Powerful — a name to watch this year. Nick Cannon used it for his December-born daughter, whose full name is Powerful Queen — quite a prophecy indeed.
- Reina
- Ren
- River
- Robin
- Rowan
- Sakari
- Savita
- Silas
- Sparrow
- Stevie
- Sunny
- Swan
- Teddy
- Titan
- Vega
- Wilder
- Wren
- Yuki
- Zamari
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