Five-Star Baby Name Advisor: The Smart New Way to Name Your Baby [Paperback]

Bruce Lansky (Author), Megan McGinnis (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 2008

Five-Star Baby Name Advisor is a unique and invaluable book for parents who want to select a name that will give their child a head start in life. It contains more helpful information about each name than any other book—starting with star ratings (like the ones used to rate movies, hotels, and mutual funds).

Most name books are basically lists of names that include origin and meaning. This unique book gives parents lots of help in deciding which name to choose for their baby.  Here is a list of all the features you’ll find in the book.  Notice that most of the features (marked with an asterisk) can’t be found in any other book; and two features marked with asterisks can only be found in name books by Bruce Lansky:  

-star rating*

-origin

-meaning

-gender usage** (showing whether names are used primarily for boys, primarily for girls, or equally for both)

-first impressions** (what images come to mind when names are called in school or seen on  job applications)

-popularity rankings and recent trends*

-spelling difficulty*

-pronunciation difficulty*

-versatility* (availability of versions of the name for informal and formal social occasions) 

-the most famous namesakes

-common nicknames

-common variations

-final considerations* (pros and cons) 

Mother's Choice Awards 2009 Silver Award: Pregnancy & Childbirth 

 

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bruce Lansky is the #1 author of baby name books in North America. His top-selling name books include: 100,000+ Baby Names, The Very Best Baby Name Book, 60,000+ Baby Names, 25,000+ Baby Names.  Altogether, his name books have sold over 8.5 million copies. Lansky lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota—halfway between two of the state’s 10,000 lakes.

 

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 550 pages
• Publisher: Meadowbrook (April 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684057840
• ISBN-13: 978-0684057842
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #987,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting > Babies & Toddlers > Child Development

More About the Author

Bruce Lansky is the #1 author of baby-name books in North America. His other name books include: What's Your Baby's Name, Baby Names Around the World, The Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World, The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole Wide World, 55000+ Baby Names, 25,000+ Baby Names, The Baby Name Survey Book, and the Mother of All Baby Names. He is also editor of a successful series of humor books, children's poetry books, and children's fiction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the baby name books!, October 13, 2008

By 

Mom2TwinBoys (Columbia, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five-Star Baby Name Advisor: The Smart New Way to Name Your Baby (Paperback)

I've looked at quite a few baby name books, and this one is by far the best. It includes a lot of helpful information on each name: how likely the name is to be mispronounced or misspelled, what image people have of someone with that name, meaning, etc. It also includes general information on naming guidelines and trends. Well put-together and very helpful!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tells it like it is........, August 3, 2009

By 

Avid Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five-Star Baby Name Advisor: The Smart New Way to Name Your Baby (Paperback)

How many times does one parent daydream and end up with a really awful list of name choices based on some romantic nonsense? This is a child, folks, and we need to find the name that they can live with, and that will make a positive impression, and that also has some personal meaning to you. This book shows us how other people perceive the name, not only the feeling it gives most people but how they stereotypically visualize someone of a particular name. This is not an exhaustive list--but let's be frank. We don't need a list of 50,000 names with versions from halfway across the globe that we don't even know how to pronounce. This book gives variations on names, as well. It gave us the tools to find a name we liked and put our own spin on the it--we gave our daughter a simple, yet beautiful name that held family significance, and yet put our own spin on it so that it would be her very own. This is a must for the parent who needs help getting her or his head out of the clouds and see the reality of how a name will be for the little one.

3.0 out of 5 stars It's okay, May 21, 2010

By 

A.I.P. Booker (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Five-Star Baby Name Advisor: The Smart New Way to Name Your Baby (Paperback)

This book is okay - nothing special. It's too "inclusive," meaning that it obviously attempts to create 5-star names for every naming convention/culture, but in the process becomes fairly inaccurate for each one - since it's not likely for a white couple to name their child Jesus, just like it's not likely for a Hispanic couple to name their child Muhammad. I would have liked to have known that this book was written in this way. It's also a bit dated in its perspective. Other than that, it's a fine book and the vendor from which I purchased it was fantastic.