Customer Reviews

50,001 Best Baby Names

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I've never yet seen a baby name book this bad. (And I've seen dozens, having studied name trends extensively in grad school.)

There are a great many made up names,--made up, I think, so that the author could list 50,001 as her name total. And the "definitions!" Yikes! Another reviewer wrote that the author seems to have made up the definitions, and this seems to be right. They don't even agree with references ON the SAME PAGE. Rosalia is supposed to be Italian and mean "hanging roses," while Rosalie, listed as English, is supposed to mean "striking dark beauty." In her introduction, Stafford says you might not want to name your child Delilah after you find out it means "whimpering harlot guttersnipe." No it doesn't. Not even in her own book. What kind of dumb joke was that?

In addition to the made up names and imaginary definitions, there is no pronunciation guide. So I guess any way you want to say the nonsense names is fine.

If you were never a student of a language other than English, you might be fooled by the definitions, and if you want to choose your baby's name(s) by the cute sounds, this is the book for you. By all means avoid it if the meaning of a name has some importance for you.

Although no reference book is perfect, try __Baby Names: A New Generation__ or __Aaron to Zoe__.

Do Not Buy This Book!!!
Naming trends are a hobby of mine and I own many books on the subject, from older books I have collected to the current trendy ones, and I have thoroughly read all of them. This is by far the worst one I have ever encountered. It is utter nonsense! Not only do some of the lists not make any sense, (What are gay and lesbian names and what qualifies a name as such???) but so many of these names are complete works of fiction it is laughable. If you want a name that is made up, don't waste money on the book, make it up yourself. The so-called definitions are ridiculous to the point of being offensive in some cases. A little research goes a long way! I don't know who paid her to write this book, but they should get their money back. As a matter of fact, I should get my money back for buying it!

Please do not waste your money on this book! It is such a joke. Unfortunately, the premise of poring through 50,000 names appealed to me. What the book's jacket didn't mention was that the names are all unbelievable and obviously made up. I can't even count how many times she makes up compound names (Joanielee or Stacielee or Phoebelee) to fill in space.
Do yourself a favor and find a good baby name Web site instead. It will save you lots of time and you won't feel like a fool for shelling out $19.95 for this piece of garbage!
I can't believe this book made it into print. Awful awful awful!!

I actually laughed out loud at this book, and it's not supposed to be funny. As someone who is very interested in names and onomastics in general, I can honestly say I have no idea how this book was ever published. The meanings are atrocious and can't be anything further from reality. I saw the name "Choicey" meaning: One who chooses" listed in this book. Excuse me? Choicey isn't a name. It dosan't exist, nor should it. If you could give a toss less that your child's name is just an adverb, or a juxtoposition of letters from someone's last failed scrabble attempt, then by all means this is the book for you. For those of you who want something meaningful, with some history... Who don't think naming your child "Spidey" is a good idea...then only buy this if you want to make fun of it. THEN it can be worth something. I wish I could give it zero stars.

This book has a lot of names. I'll give it that. But, there are some relatively common names that are missing. And so many invented names. My favorite of the invented names are Schmoopie and Poogie. As if these names will show up on a birth certificate!!
The definitions/origins of the names are poorly researched and confusing.
For the name "Cowboy" the book tells you it means "country" for the name "Country" it tells you it means "western".
Not that either of those is a standard name, but, for "words as names" aren't you going to pick it because it has meaning to you?
Also, the lists are totally false, something the author (if you can call her that) made up while sitting around drinking with her buddies. And some of the names on these lists aren't even found later in the book. (ex. Lynus on the "Party animals" list)
I wish I had held out for a trip to the bookstore instead of just picking up the first book I saw at Walmart. I figured with so many names I would find one I liked, but I am just so distracted by all the junk that I will never find a good name here.

not only does the author make up names (why are tedshawn and tedwayne in here, but not tedsteve?), but she makes up their derivations as well. if you're just looking for a huge list of names, you'll have better luck looking in the phone book. buy one of the books by satran instead.

I have to agree with the other negative reviews for this book. I bought it last night because the one other first name book I have was put out by Oxford University Press and includes a disproportionate number of Celtic names.

I thought this book would help me flesh out my list of possibilities. No such luck. As many others have said, there are so many names here that are made up, extremely rare, or simply bizarre, that it's very hard to spot the good ones in the mix.

What's more, in listing so many invented names, the author vioates the very advice she gives earlier in the book. Finally, I found her section of "fun lists" to be unsupported and arbitrary, and her etymologies to be incorrect.

As others have said. Save yourself some money and buy a smaller book, a better book, or just search online. This book isn't worth it.

This is the worst baby name book I have every looked at. This lady actually put Dog (best friend) and Spidey (variant of Spiderman) in this book. I think she made up most of the meanings as to what she might think someone with that name would seem like to her. I'd say if you have to see it, check it out at the library -- don't waste your money.

This has many made up names I assume were included to make the 50001 goal.

Reading this book is kinda like walking down the street and saying everything you see as a possible name for your child. How about naming your son tree?, or gate? or door? or hubcap? Her meanings also seem made up. Accordinging to the author Orange supposedly means "sparkly", she says Flicky means "vivacious" and Parslee supposedly means "complementary".

The number of made up names actually cheapens the usefullness of the good names as you have to read so many duds (and I'm talking dozens at a time) to get to anything that you haven't heard of before and doesn't sound made up.

I'm sure some people actually name their kids stupid things, but do we need a book to help us find names like Ikea or Fructose?

It makes you feel like the author is making fun of you when you read it. Jokes on me I guess.

It's a joke. Most of the names are ridiculous. I don't know anyone who would name their kid Mohawk or Wave. This book was a total waste of money.