Dictionary of Baby Names, the New American

by Leslie Dunkling

Book Overview

Shy Ichitaka has a crush on his high school classmate Iori, but ever since she posed for semi-provocative swimsuit photos in a magazine, she's had a lot of sleazy guys hitting on her. Ichitaka's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451171071
• ISBN13: 9780451171078
• Release Date: December 1991
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 476 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

excellent book!

This book originally had the title "Everyman's Guide of First Names" published in 1983 by Dent. I read it twice and I agree that there should be a revised edition for the new millenium.If you like books on names, get this one!

A great tool and about that title....

As an author of historical fiction, I consider this book the "bible" of names. For me, the value is in the fact that it gives the time periods during which each name was popular, which is extremely helpful in my line of work. Also, there have been other reviews panning the name being "New American", but perhaps this is due more to the fact that the book was published by New American Library than any effort to advertise it as a dictionary of American names. Love it, had to buy a new one because my old one fell apart. The best name book I have ever come across.

You don't need a baby to profit from this onomastic classic

This is the only name book with "baby" in the title that is worth reading. (It was originally titled "The Facts on File Dictionary of First Names".) The only real competitor this has is George Rippey Stewart's "American Given Names", which will cost you over six times as much.Dunkling, who founded Britain's Names Society, and Gosling don't just tell you the meaning of the name, but its derivation, when it entered the language, when it became popular (and fell off, and rebounded), why people used it when they did, literary examples, and lots of other juicy bits.One drawback is that it hasn't been revised since its appearance in 1983, and has missed some of the recent fads. The no. 1 girl's name of 1990 isn't in here at all. (You'll find it on a map of France.) But then, no one predicted the Pet Rock either. Every literate person should have a name book next to his dictionary and thesaurus. This book costs less than a movie ticket, is more fun, and lasts a lot longer. Never mind the new parents, get it for yourself!

The Best Baby-Name Book I've Yet Come Across

This book would have been more accurately titled "A Survey of Personal Names Used in English-Speaking Countries".Other than in its being misnamed, though, I found this book to be quite impressive. Attesting to the scholarly integrity of the compilers/authors, the book is a collection of names actually attested as used in English speaking countries, including those of non-English-language origin. (Some books seem to list an assortment of names from exotic languages as "suggestions" for what parents COULD name their children, while this book simply and honestly notes what English-speaking parents actually DO name their children).While not including as many entries as some other notable baby-name books, this book seems to contain a large number of names used in countries throughout the English-speaking world throughout recorded history (as long as those historically-used names are still considered current).Of course, as in many other such books, for many of the names are listed famous bearers of and common impressions associated with those names, as well as variant spellings and "pet" forms. But I found this book especially impressive in the detail and apparent accuracy of its etymologies, as well as the notes on historical usage and popularity.Other than the inaccuracy of the title, I noticed only two (minor) flaws in the book. The first, in common with other books of the kind, is a lack of an unambiguous guide to the pronunciation of the foreign words from which so many modern English names stem. The other is an exceptionally large number of typographical errors, such as m-o-d-e-m for m-o-d-e-r-n and t-b-e for t-h-e.I recommend this book.

Book review- The New American Dictionary of Baby Names

Excellent source of names that defines the origins, meanings,literary and historical associations. My hubby and I are still reviewing the book for girl names for our 'new' arrival in June '98.