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Magical Names
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About this list
Magical names possess the power to influence and inspire the paths of the people who bear them. They have become newly popular in response to the coronavirus pandemic. After experiencing intense hardship, parents are seeking names with incantatory power to arm and protect their children against future challenges.
Magic names include powerful word names, names with inspirational meanings, and superhero names of legendary figures both good and evil. Names of controversial mythic personages, such as Ophelia, Kali, and even Lucifer, are now being reconsidered as parents recognize the gray area in the interpretation of their stories.
Along with Ophelia and Kali, other magical girl names in the US Top 1000 include Athena, Evangeline, Heavenly, and Lilith. Popular magical boy names include Cyrus, Legend, Messiah, and Titan.
Celebrities have been at the forefront of this trend. Recent magical names used for celebrity babies include Powerful, Atlas, Win, and Sovereign.
In the recent past, these spellbinding names were considered unsurmountable challenges — who could live up to a name like Saint or Aphrodite? But after reckoning with our inner strength during challenging times, parents are embracing magical names as prophecy and relishing their chance to imbue their children with fortitude and power.
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The names
Ethan
Hebrew
"strong, firm"
Ethan is a name that succeeds in being at once classic and fashionable, serious and cheery, strong and sensitive. Given a big boost via the name of the Tom Cruise character in the Mission Impossible…
Wyatt
English surname
"brave in war"
Wyatt has been hot, which is to say cool, for several years now. With its easy Wyatt Earpish cowboy charm, it's relaxed but still highly respectable. Wyatt is a lot more classic a name than you might…
Riley
English, Irish
"rye clearing; courageous"
Riley—an upbeat, friendly surname name—is red hot for girls and still going strong for boys. If you haven't been spending much time around babies recently, you may be surprised to learn that Riley is…
Eloise
French and English variation of Heloise
"healthy; wide"
Well balanced between sleek, sweet, strong, and vintage, newly chic Eloise re-entered the US Top 1000 in 2009, following a 50-year absence. In 2022, it broke into the Top 100 in the US and across the…
Delilah
Hebrew or Arabic
"delicate"
Melodic and lively, Delilah has cut itself (mostly) free from its treacherous past to become a contemporary favorite. Though some people are naturally still put off by the deceptive Biblical figure,…
Angel
Spanish and English
"angel, messenger"
As a boys' name, Angel has two distinct name personalities. One is as a perennial favorite Hispanic boys’ name , popular in the US along with Spain, Mexico, and South America. Then Buffy the Vampire…
Atlas
Greek
"bearer of the heavens"
Atlas is one of those names that was previously thought too powerful for a baby boy, who would have to be strong enough to carry the world on his shoulders. Now Atlas has joined the pantheon of Greek…
Axel
Scandinavian variation of Absalom
"father of peace"
A classic in its native Scandinavia, Axel has a cool rock 'n' roll flavor in the US, thanks to Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose (born William). With its distinctive letter 'x', it has an effortlessly cool…
Audrey
English
"noble strength"
Audrey is one of the girls' names that have been rising due to their connection to Old Hollywood glamour — in this case the eternally chic and radiant Audrey Hepburn. Audrey has another very…
Athena
Greek
"from Athens"
Magical and distinctive but grounded and familiar too, it's no surprise that Athena has become one of the most widely used ancient goddess names in the contemporary Western world. Derived from the…