What's your favorite baby name book?

[momtoemma]

We're looking for names for our second child. We aren't sure yet whether it's a girl or boy, but I've got a couple of name books from the first time around and am still uninspired. What was your favorite baby name book? I'm undecided as to whether I want a more traditional name or a more unique one although I'm not into real trendy or common names. Just looking for ideas...

Thanks,

[vikivoly]

I highly recommend "Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana" It's much more than a dictionary of names and definitions. It has names grouped into different categories. Ex. Traditional, Unique, Feminine, Out-dated, etc. It tells you what names are going to popular soon, what's on the way out, etc..


Here's a link to it http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312974620/104-7378267-1547106?v=glance.

Good luck and let us know what name you decide! :)

[stillplayswithbarbies]

That is the one I used as well. It's a good way to get ideas, but it also helps you think about things like how the name sounds with your last name, and with siblings, etc.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[ddmarsh]

This is my all-time favorite as well and one that I give frequently for a newly pregnant gift. They have a newer book out too that I perused at the book store and found not to be nearly as helpful and thorough as this one.


Have fun :).

[hez]

I'll admit we never bought a book-- but I did like fooling around on www.babynames.com . I liked looking up names by meaning & origin, although that wasn't the deciding factors in the end.

I also played on the Social Security page (http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/) because there was no way in heck I wanted a baby with a name as popular as mine had been when I was born. I hated sharing my name. You can look up what's been popular over the last 10-12 years.

[parkersmama]

I like the Madison & Montana one but I also used this one from the same authors:
[link:www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312983689/qid=1068584826//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/002-6792933-0574409?v=glance&s=books&n=507846|Baby Names Now]

It's in alpha order like the standard baby name book but instead of giving the meaning of the names, it gives helpful info like how popular the name is, what literary characters, etc., have had it, and basically what the authors think of the name. It's very helpful. These authors are basically the foremost authorities today on naming trends so their books are a great place to go whether you want a popular name or want to avoid one!

[emilyf]

Those authors seem to have a new book pretty regularly-the one we used was The Last Word in First Names-I feel like I learned that one by heart!
Emily \r\nmom of Charlie born 11/02

[stillplayswithbarbies]

the same authors also have one for Irish names. NOt sure how old it is, I saw it at the consignment shop. I wish I had seen it when we were still expecting. (I love Logan's name, but we went through an Irish phase when we were deciding on names)

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03