The Perfect Name: A Step-by-Step Guide to Naming Your Baby

By Jeanine Cox

What expectant parent wouldn't grab onto a proven, fun plan for choosing a baby's name they'll love? A simple ten-step program shows how to determine what's most important to you, as you sift through names according to your family history, what's currently popular, sounds, meanings, ethnicity, originality, and familiarity (not to mention dealing with the suggestions of well-intentioned relatives and friends). You'll draw upon the diverse naming customs in other times and places, and become aware of psychological differences between naming a boy and naming a girl, as well as ways to find solutions when parents disagree. Best of all: more than 20,000 names to trigger your imagination, including sources, meanings, alternative spellings, and shorter and longer versions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760742952
• ISBN13: 9780760742952
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Sterling
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

The Perfect Name - The Perfect Book

I recieved this book as a gift, normally I wouldn't purchase a baby name book so I guess that's why I was given it as a gift. I have to say that I'm very impressed with this book. I love that it does more than just give you a list of baby names. It gives you lots of information about everything leading up to choosing a baby name, the traditions, the dilemmas of name choosing, finding out the sex of the baby beforehand and so much more. I like the others have mentioned love the color coding. The only down side for me as one of the others mentioned was pronunciation, I have a hard time figuring out how to actually say some names and it would have been helpful however for me that doesn't knock off any stars I still rate it a 5 because I found all the editorial about naming babies very informative and interesting unlike the simple list of baby names books on the market!

A wonderful guide and name dictionary!

When I was pregnant with my first child, I was mostly disappointed with the baby name books I found. Now pregnant with my second, a friend suggested I check out The Perfect Name, and I am so glad I did! Like the reviewer before me, I really appreciate the color coded pages. It makes for easy scanning and flipping. But that's not really what distinguishes this book. First, there are so many names to choose from. Admittedly, they aren't all names I'd consider, but I was surprised to find names I hadn't considered, but now might. Second, I love the quotes, facts, statistics and lists interspersed throughout. I found myself reading through the boys names, even though I'm having a girl, simply to read these lovely additions. Finally, I appreciated the naming insight in the beginning and the step by step exercises provided in the back. This enables indecisive parents, like my husband and me, to focus in on their top preferences and ultimately find a name they both love. If you're looking for a baby name, make sure you check out this book!

The Perfect Addition to the New Parent Bookshelf

At first I didn't want to buy a baby name book. I had tons of ideas in my head. But when my boyfriend suggested we purchase one and cuddle on the couch perusing the pages- I couldn't resist. We actually headed to a local bookstore to purchase this- and when I was looking on the shelves, I noticed a difference in the baby name books. Many were thin, almost like pocket dictionaries- so I assumed they were condensed versions that would not be as fun to look through. Also, many books I found seemed to read like a dictionary. While I'll confess to reading old Webster prior to a Scrabble match, it's boring. Pregnancy is exciting, and I wanted an exciting and helpful baby name guide- not just a list of names and meanings. Then I saw Jeanie Cox'x The Perfect Name. The book for starters caught my eye by its colors. The top of the book's pages are color-coded so you can easily navigate through the boy and girl names. What I enjoyed even more than a huge, coloful dictionary portion, was that there was lots of parenthood/name quotes of famous people next to their names, as well as other trivia points. But- this book is more than just a dictionary- it's a binch of meanings sandwiched between some helpful content. The first 50 pages are dedicated to how to cooperate with naming the baby between mom and dad. Then, the steps they list are accompanied by worksheets that are in the back of the book. First, you pick out names you like off the top of you head- then she tells you to play with alliteration, acronyms, and names from the bible, Shakespeare, nature, new age, places and surnames as first names. This all opens up your creativity and lets you find names you may have passed over. Finally, I love how it helps you narrow down the names by letting mom and dad join in together. The only reason I gave this book four stars is because I felt it was missing something very important- PRONUNCIATION!! I know how to pronounce Tom, Dick and Harry- but not Rheged, Aegidius and Rocico! That would really help people who are looking for very unique names, especially Indian names. Good luck to all the other new parents out there!