Customer Reviews

Celtic Baby Names: Traditional Names from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall & the Isle of Man

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a treasure trove of relevant info in an easy to use format. It is divided into regions (e.g. Ireland, Scotland...) and includes a brief history of each Celtic region and its language/naming practices. Within those sections, names are listed alphabetically. The author includes the history, meaning, gender, and the very necessary pronunciation(s) of the names, and tells readers all the various spellings and their implications (e.g. Old Irish spelling, modern Irish, or anglicized). It is definitely the best resource of Celtic names that I have yet seen, and I heartily recommend it.

Wonderful assortment of names (not definitive and maybe difference of opinion on some)> Not divided into male and female names, but then these days with a penchant for giving male names to females maybe I am being picky.

It gives the meaning of the names,drawn from Celt Languages of Scots Gaelic, Welsh, Manx, Beton and Cornish - 1200 traditional first names from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, and the Isle of Mane, with the pronunciations, and interesting tidbits about people that had the name. The only US book with names offering this wide of a selection. Since many people have trouble with pronouncing these names, the pronunciations guide is every helpful.

Of special interested to writers looking for Celt derivative characters for their books.

This book is remarkably short. If you are looking for a Celtic name for a baby, okay, this book is probably good. But if you are an author looking for an authentic Welsh or Breton (or whatever) name, this book is not nearly thourough enough. The pronounciation key is helpful -- although I am not sure it is entirely correct -- and the fact that she gives the linguistic meaning of the name, not the assumed meaning (e.g. "Dalwen" would mean, in welsh, "dal" (forehead) + "wen" (shining), not "brilliant" or whatnot.) But in the Breton names, she gives French spelling if she thinks it looks better, and in all languages she only includes the few that she likes herself, with whatever spellings she wants. The history of the names and the language information is very useful, though.

I don't regret the money I paid for this book, but it could be better. If you are an author, or don't care about pronounciation, Sherrilyn Kenyon's book _Character Naming Sourcebook_ (also on Amazon) is better.

I really enjoyed this book. It has the most extensive list of Celtic baby names that I have come across. The definitions help give you some background information on each name. The top baby name book I have com e across!!

I found the book very useful while helping my daughter choose a name for her son, The name she eventually chose was Rhys,a very ancient and royal name bore by Welsh Celtic Kings.

Now between yourself and myself I was looking for real Irish names and it was refreshing to read this book . So many books are full of nonsense about Irish names . This one isn't ! Many books get off the point and include any name ever registered in Ireland as an Irish one . My children are Barra , Aoife and Eadaoin and my wife is Deirdre . Keep this under your hat and don't breathe it to another soul but my name is Colm which means that we are the ABCDE family . Now the wife is with child at present which means that she'll be dropping another one soon . Now now , this is a true story . We need an F name . This book is helping . Our baby is due around July 20th 2000 . What name shall we choose ? We know she is a girl . This is a great book but we cannot reveal the name until later so if you really want to know , email us ! Buy this book .

My husband and I really liked this book. While I can't attest for historical accuracy of references, at least this book had many of them and seemed to be thorough with the info it provided. There were some names I learned a lot about, and some I decided NOT to choose due to information provided. I lent this to my brother for his children. We all love it. we chose Fiona and Gwendolyn for my red-headed twins.

My husband and I have really enjoyed leafing through this excellent resource. We are searching for baby names that reflect our heritage, but are not ridiculous to spell or pronounce (like my Scottish name is). I haven't ordered any other baby name books...who wants to wade through a sea of 1500 names, when we know we will probably select a British name for our child?

I have been looking for a baby name book that actually has pronuncations of the Celtic names for quite some time. I can not believe how many baby name books list names without pronunciations. I mean, how are you supposed to know?! I have already fallen in love with names based on the spelling and my "supposed" pronunciation, only to find that I was wrong. This book is a godsend for both my business and my personal life.

Excellent resource! Has the orginal spellings and pronunciations. We used it for both our kids.