The days of John, Paul, George — and Ringo, too, for that matter — are gone for now. So too are the days of Jane, Jennifer, Jill and Betsy.

None of the above made the list of most popular baby names for 2009, according to www.babycenter.com.

The top five boys names include Ethan, Noah, Jacob, Aiden and Jackson, while the top girls names include Emma, Ava, Olivia, Isabella and Madison.

For the last decade at least, the trend seems to be that more untraditional names are being chosen over the Bobs, the Toms, the Sues and the Marys.

That trend holds true in my family as my four nephews are named Ashton, Parker, Nicholas and Hudson.

Nicholas, of course, is the only traditional name of the four.

My youngest sister and her husband and expecting their second child this summer and are leaning toward Cambria for a girl and Landon for a boy.

While this year’s list of top names includes some traditionals — Matthew and Michael for boys, for instance, and Emily and Anna for girls — the nontraditional names are still the overwhelming favorites.

In the celebrity world, however, anything goes.

A quick glance on www.rateitall.com reveals names like Betty Kitten, daughter of talk show host Jonathan Ross; Calico, daughter of musician Alice Cooper; and Stevanna, daughter of American Idol judge Randy Jackson. Other names include Diva, Rocket, Peaches, Daisy Boo, Sailor Lee, Poppy Honey and Banjo.

My baby name of choice sides with the nontraditional names.

I like Autzen for both a boy’s or a girl’s name, although I have only dated two people who would have ever gone along with that name, and one said she was only OK with it as a name for a dog.

Autzen is the name of the University of Oregon’s football stadium, where I have spent many fall days in the stands.

I don’t really have a huge opinion one way or the other on traditional names versus non traditional names because that, of course, is up to the parents.

However, I do think there is a line that should not be crossed and just because a name sounds funny and clever doesn’t mean the child will think so.

According to an Associated Press article released last year, a New Zealand judge awarded a 9-year-old girl a name change. Her given name was”Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii.”

“The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child’s parents have shown in choosing this name,” Judge Rob Murfitt wrote.”It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily.”

New Zealand registration officials apparently blocked other questionable names in the past, including Fish and Chips and Sex Fruit, but allowed others, such as Number 16 Bus Shelter and Violence.

The bottom line is we’re obviously in a new era of baby names.

I’m fine with the Gavins and the Masons and the Chloes, but the Poppy Honeys and the Banjos and the Sex Fruits simply have to go.