The Baby Name Survey Book [Paperback]

Bruce Lansky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

"The Baby Name Survey Book," previously titled "The Baby Name Personality Survey, " is not just a baby name book - it is a reflection of how popular culture affects the perception of popular names. This is the first name book to provide information on what people think about names. With the information in this book, parents can pick a name for their child with positive connotations, and avoid names that might subject their child to teasing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Meadowbrook (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671023853
• ISBN-13: 978-0671023850
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,256,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not really worth the money, March 10, 2003

By 

Nikol Le Vine "poet17" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Baby Name Survey Book (Paperback)

I love the concept of this book. It's so interesting to see what image people have when they hear a certain name. Of course we're all influenced by movies, TV, and real-life acquaintences. Some of the influences listed in the this book are a bit outdated. For example, the name Ariel doesn't list anything as being influenced by Disney's The Little Mermaid, but the name Barnaby says the image comes straight from TV's Barnaby Jones. Who??? I don't think this book would be helpful to new parents looking for a fun baby name book. Some names that you love might carry a less than pleasant "image," and that might wrongfully sway what should be an objective and personal decision. Overall, the book is fascinating, but once you've looked through it for about 10 minutes, you've already looked up your name, your family's names, and the names of all your friends. Maybe you've had a laugh or two. Even so, you'll probably feel like you made a truly frivolous purchase. I'm sure you could find this same information on the internet somewhere and save yourself a little green.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Generalized, will always be outdated, but occasionally fun, January 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Baby Name Survey Book (Paperback)

The problem with any book that attempts to give a name an "image" is that, while it might be dead-on accurate for the way people think about names today, it'll always be outdated, because by the time the baby you've given a name to grows up, people will have totally different images, simply because of waxing and waning popularity of names. Take, for instance, the name Linda -- one of the most popular names of the last generation. Not surprisingly, the adult respondents of the survey gave it generally positive impressions. However, very few people today are naming their babies Linda, and a Linda born in 2000 will probably be seen as hopelessly old-fashioned, since quite a few babies born today probably have grandmothers named Linda. Another problem is that, in order to integrate a number of survey responses into the writeup of a name, the image often comes out to be overcrowded and sometimes contradictory. There is one fun aspect of the book: looking up your own name and those of friends. It also might be useful for creating names for fictional characters. As a baby-naming book, though, it's not much help.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting, somewhat helpful, but trust your own judgement, June 15, 2002

By 

M. Cookson (Colorado Springs) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Baby Name Survey Book (Paperback)

I don't get these kinds of books for they're intended for - I'm not expecting and I don't plan to have children for some time. However, I do find them helpful in my constant search for names for the characters in the stories I write. I picked this book up for that purpose.

The authors of this book surveyed many people and recieved between 30 and 150 responses for each name in the book. The book begins with two lists, boys and girls, of personality traits and the names that supposedly make people think of those traits. Then it has two alphebetical lists of names, their meanings, the image people said that name called to mind, and famous people with that name. In case you're interested, the girls list is a bit shorter than the boys list. I looked through some of the names, and I've decided it would be better to just rely on my own impressions. I don't agree with a lot of the images that the book says the names call to mind. Some of them are fun to read, and it's nice to browse your name and the names of friends and family for a laugh, but I don't think it's as helpful as it wants to be.