Brooke writes:
I’ve been following you for over a year now. Basically since we first
started trying to conceive. I’m finally pregnant and am excited to start
naming our baby!
However, I’m struggling with where to even start. I was just wondering if
you had an suggestions for books to use to start our list. I already
bought The Baby Name Wizard book, but it doesn’t seem as helpful in making
a list as it does in researching that list, once you already know a name
(or style) you like.
I think I’d like something more like a really long list of names we can go
through and either select or strike out. Do you have an recommendations?thanks!
It will not surprise you to hear that if I could have only one baby name book, it would be the one you already own: The Baby Name Wizard, by Laura Wattenberg.
(photo from Amazon.com)
As you know, it has two main sections. The first section is a list of names; each name has a pronunciation, a snapshot of its popularity, suggested sister/brother names (which often end up being more like “If you like this name, try these”), and a brief discussion of the name. The second section is categories of names based on style.
I find it helpful for list-making because you can browse in the first section (the name list part) just as you would in a standard alphabetical-list-of-names book—but each name you look at leads you gradually to find your overall naming style. If you’re leafing idly through the first section and you think, “Oh! Alice! I like Alice!,” you can immediately see that Alice is in the “Antique Charm” and “Ladies and Gentlemen” categories. You can flip to those categories and look through them; maybe you will think, “YES. This is the style category I like: I love TONS of these names!” or maybe you will think, “Hm. No, this doesn’t really seem right.” And you will go on to the next name: “Oh, ALYSSA! I like that even better!”—and off you go to check out the “Lacy and Lissome” and “Turn of the 21st Century” categories to see if either of those are more like it.
Or you can look at the suggested sister and brother names. I played a game where I let each name lead me to another name. If I liked Alice, I’d find my favorite of the sister names (Clara) and go look that up; then I’d look in the sister suggestions for Clara, choose a favorite (Eliza), and go to THAT name, and so on. Sometimes I’d end up in a loop, right back at Alice or Clara again, with an excited list scribbled down and a feeling that I was definitely on the right path. Other times I’d start at one name I liked, but soon I’d think, “Hm. I don’t really like any of these sibling names. And even when I go back and do it over, I still end up where I don’t like anything. Maybe this name is a style outlier for me.”
The second most important book in my collection sounds more like what you’re looking for: I like to have a big huge name dictionary that pretty much lists alllllll the names. I look for a book with a huge number in the title, ideally ending with a “+” rather than an “001” (it couldn’t end up at 50,001 in any way that could be considered natural; either they had to plump up the list or edit it down). I have two: The Baby Name Bible, by Pamela Redmond Satran & Linda Rosenkrantz (authors of Beyond Jennifer & Jason, the name book that took the top of my head off back in the 1990s), and 100,000+ Baby Names, by Bruce Lansky (before that, I used his book The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World; I still own a copy, because 30,000 names seems more reasonable than 100,000 for browsing).
(photo from Amazon.com)
(photo from Amazon.com)
I use these for general browsing/hunting—but because they list SO MANY names, I find it overwhelming to go through page by page: my eyes glaze over and I’m not even seeing the names individually anymore. I use these books more often when I need a name that starts with a particular letter or letters and I want to make sure I look at all the candidates/variations/spellings. I also use them for meanings and origins.
However, when possible I double-check meanings and origins in the book I consider my most reliable source for such things: The Oxford Dictionary of First Names, by Hanks, Hardcastle, and Hodges. I don’t use it much for browsing, just fact-checking.
(photo from Amazon.com)
I have one more book I find fun: Baby Names Made Easy: The Complete Reverse-Dictionary of Baby Names, by Amanda Elizabeth Barden.
(photo from Amazon.com)
If name meanings are important to you, I’d recommend getting a copy: it has names sorted into meaning categories such as “Blessings & Gifts,” “Happiness & Joy,” “Intelligence & Wisdom,” and “Peace & Freedom.” (But double-check the meanings for accuracy.)
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More name book recommendations for Brooke?
Oh Swistle, this is perfect!!! Thanks so much for this great list! It may be the hormones I but I teared up at such a great and thorough response!!
I’ll definitely be making a trip to the book store this weekend!
The Baby Name Wizard is also my favorite baby name book (the author’s blog is also very interesting).
I have one of the books by Bruce Lansky & agree it’s not very good for browsing. I especially find it frustrating because it gives so many variations of the same names, listed as individual entries. After a while, it gets to where I don’t even know what I’m reading anymore (was I on Madelyn or Madelynn?) I’d much rather see just one or 2 of the main spellings for a name, with less common variations included as part of those entries.
I also use behindthename.com. Generally reliable information about name meanings/origins, it also has names listed that you can browse through. They are divided into categories though, so you’d probably want some idea of what you are looking for. Categories on that site are by origin (Hebrew, Irish, Italian, etc) and they also have some interesting categories like colors, gemstone, nature, etc.
if your tastes are more non-traditional, I highly recommend Kay Sheard’s “Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names: For Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, Mages, Shamans & Independent Thinkers of All Sorts Who Are Curious About Names from Every Place and Every Time”. I don’t consider myself any of the first SEVEN things on the list, but I am an independent thinker who is curious about names. I loved her blog, nookofnames.com (currently on sabbatical) and that is also a good resource. The book is HUGE, it is so massive it is almost hard to read because it is awkward to hold, but it is well researched and contains so many interesting names and their background and meaning. It is my favorite “huge list of names book”.
For expectant parents in my family I’ve recommend starting with SSA’s list of the1000 top baby names for boys and for girls for the previous year. According to the SSA, 78.62% of all boys and 66.82 % of all girls born in the USA in 2012 were given names that ranked in the Top 1000 names for the year.
Suggestions for gems among the thousands of names in SSA’s “Beyond the Top 1000” data — http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/limits.html — can be found on various baby name websites:
Here are the next 1000 names in 2012 in rank order (#1001-2000): http://www.nancy.cc/2013/05/09/beyond-the-top-1000-baby-names-of-2012/
And nameberry.com highlighted these names beyond the top 1000 in 2010 (three years later, some have made it into the top 1000): http://nameberry.com/blog/unusual-names-for-girls-less-popular-than-you-think
In fact, for lists of baby names, you might do better to spend time reading though some of nameberry.com’s countless baby name lists (appealingly illustrated) that may prove more varied, current and workable than the lists of names that turn up in many of the baby name books on the market — or in your local library.
As for baby name books, one that I’ve loaned several times (besides Baby Name Wizard and The Baby Name Bible that Swistle mentioned) is The Great Big Book of Baby Names (A Complete Guide From A to Z) by Cleveland Kent Evan, Ph.D. (2006). It’s an excellent compilation of names used by American families, with reliable information about each name. Not presently available through Amazon, good condition used copies can be ordered through Abe Books at very reasonable prices: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=cleveland+kent+evans&sts=t&tn=the+great+big+book+of+baby+names
The two that really helped me name both of my kids were “A is for Atticus” and “Bring Back Beatrice.” They were smaller and more specialized (the first focused on literary names and the second on more vintage names) but I found them both to be extremely helpful. Good luck!
I collect baby name books — the ones that seem well researched and are more than just lists of names. I enjoy reading them, as well as loaning them to family members in need of a baby name. I found “A is for Atticus” at Half Price Books a year or two ago, but had not heard of “Bring Back Beatrice”. I Just obtained a copy through Amazon and it’s a gem too. Thanks, Jessica, for mentioning it.
To give an example of the writing style of these books, here’s their take on Miranda, the name of one of my granddaughters:
“A” – “Miranda: Of all of his name concoctions, Miranda may be the Bard’s finest. He wanted his characters to fit the essence of their personality, actions, and perhaps the challenges he would throw at them. Miranda he crafted from the Latin word ‘mirandus,’ which means “admirable”. In “The Tempest,” Miranda is so often admired by other characters that they refer to her as “a wonder”. This wondrous name has endured several centuries and is still used by parents drawn to its lyrical grace and loveliness. As Amanda slowly but surely slides out of the top 100, Miranda is always and forever a beautiful, still original classic.”
“B” – “Miranda is a wonderful name. It means “wondrous” and “admirable,” from the Latin word ‘mirandus’. Miranda has literary origins — her name was created by Shakespeare for a character in “The Tempest” — and was fashionable in the 1800s and again in the 1950s. It’s a name with beauty and poetry, one that would go especially well with Germanic last names that could use some softening.”
Nicknames: Mira, Randy, Randa
Alternatives: Amanda, Mirabel, Mireille, Ariel
I would recommend these baby name books too; they have it all – name etymology, history of usage, an interesting discussion of each name — truly gems among so many run-of-the-mill baby name books that have been published.
I wholeheartedly recommend Kay Sheard’s Complete Book of Names. Even if you don’t fall under any of the categories in the extended title, it’s an EXCELLENT resource.
I would also suggest nymbler.com. You can put in names you like, and it gives similar suggestions. You can put in both male or female names and search for either male or female. I find it less tedious than flipping back and forth in a book.