The Perfect Name Book?

[blackapple]

What would make the perfect name book, in your opinion?
What format would be the best?
What sort of information would you love to see included?
Any other special features?

I ask because I am "grading" all my books and two aspects I am struggling to come with an impartial "grading system" for are format and variety of information, so thus far, that grade has been subjective. I mostly base it on ease of reading and different types of info: derivations, famous bearers, historical usage, etc. Meaning has its own category and so does Amount of Names, and I have an impartial grading system for those.

Thanks!

PS, I'd be glad to share my book reviews if anyone is interested. I have 116 name books! So far, I have only graded about 12. Just pm me.

[Panya]

Listing things as I think of them...

Correct meanings and derivations are a must. I really like for a name's derivation to be listed sort of like a detailed dictionary entry, with it stating 'this came from that, and that evolved from those,' etc.

Proper pronunciations are really important for me too. I hate finding an interesting-looking name with a cool meaning, and having no clue how to say it -- or, even worse, the pronunciation listed is wrong. I can do without pronunciations if the rest of the book is really good/accurate.

I dislike it when books have 'boy' and 'girl' sections. I want all of the names to be alphabetical, and have a note as to which gender the name was historically used on. And, of course, I hate it when names are listed as being female when they're really male names used on girls.

I'm only interested in famous bearers when they had some direct impact on the popularity of a name, or if others will think of this person when they hear the name [Britney, Paris, Adolf, etc.].

[Jenaphora]

I agree with Panya on pretty much everything!

I also like 'lists', like popular names in other countries, fairy tale names (just a lame example), names that share a meaning etc....just as a little fun addition.

I don't have much to add (as I said Panya hit a lot that are important to me too) but I would definitely be interested in hearing your top 5 or whatever.

[Mazy]

Ditto the other ladies!

But a huge ditto on pronunciation.

[Sobes]

If I were to buy a book about names, I'd really like a OED of names - when it was first used, when it was first used in English, and other info about the history of the name. I do like to know about famous people who have had the name, but would prefer a variety - not just actors or recent figures, but people in the past, too.

I'm not one for name lists, but I won't say no to them. And I'm not picky about historical usage vs. modern usage. I get the idea that there was one point when Holly was very, very rare and used more on boys before it became more popular and got more usage with girls. But I wouldn't consider it a male name, or at the very least as a male only name.

[brokentv]

What would make the perfect name book, in your opinion?

--It really depends on the book and the theme (if there is any), but here are a few variables that I find pretty universally pleasing:

--It's really important for me that the book have linguistically 'correct' or at least logical meanings.

--Not to be an elitest, but I'd like it to be light on modern creations. Standing the test of time is important (I'm not talking about my naming taste, I'm talking about what goes in a book), and taking up a lot of space laundry listing trendy variations (cough*100,000babynames*caugh) brings the books' value down imo since trends change over time. That being said, wildly popular creations (Jaylen, etc) should probably be in there.

--Not a bazillion gazillion names but not too few either. I think the best books are ones that stick with a theme (however subtle or unmentioned) like "names used in the 'western world' 19-21st century" or "American Indian Names" or "Names commonly used in America" or "Uncommon Names" or "Literary names" or whatever... the books that try to list out all names for all cultures for all times are not only going to be massive tomes, but will also most likely miss out on important names and have to cut back on the etymology aspect due to page space and the missing general knowledge of some cultures.

What format would be the best?
--I agree with Panya, I like it best when all the names are listed in alphabetical order in one section. But, I'm not too picky in this area.

What sort of information would you love to see included?
Any other special features?
--Name. Pronunciation(s). Meaning(s). Origin. SSA # (though this obviously becomes incorrect over time... so maybe a simple "rare", "somewhat rare", "somewhat popular", and "popular" in the year so-and-so which you could explain in terms of ssa in the index or something...) Famous Bearers/pop culture associations is a fun feature too.

[Jenaphora]

Oh yah, I totally like it when the books talk about popularity/usage over time.

[Zabbie]

Pronunciation is definitely an important factor for me. And accurate information about the derivation, when it first came into use, famous bearers and literary characters, etc. I agree with Shannon that I'm not interested in a long list of completely made-up modern names, but I do like to see lots of foreign names, even if they're very rare for English-speaking countries.

I thought I had a lot of name books, but my 8 is nothing compared to your colletion. I'd be interested to know which ones you think are best once you've looked through all of them.

[Lilac]

Pronunciations!! I know it's sometimes regional, but give me the options at least. My favourite name books lack this. My favourites are the dictionary namebooks (they have the most accurate meanings) and books by the Beyond Jennifer and Jason authors (I like their commentary).

[Phoenix]

I actually like it when name books suggest sibling names, like the Baby Name Wizard. I think that book has pretty good suggestions, even if I don't agree with all of them.

I agree with the others with pronunciation and accurate meaning.

[alouette]

I actually like it when name books suggest sibling names, like the Baby Name Wizard. I think that book has pretty good suggestions, even if I don't agree with all of them.

I agree with the others with pronunciation and accurate meaning.

Ditto this. But I do disagree with others and I prefer seperate male/female sections in books.

[Elliebean]

one thing I really dislike about some name books is when you're looking up one name (say Nellie) and it will give you the name it comes from (Eleanor) instead of its meaning and then you have to go all over the book just to find the meaning of the original name!--so I guess I would like a name book to have all the meanings listed to all names along with where the name is derived from :)

[speechykeen]

More than a long and involved etymological history of each name, I like a little discussion of fun facts and opinions, a la BNW. I think those kinds of books are much more enjoyable and readable.