Customer Reviews

O'Baby: The Irish Baby Name Book

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This charming name book will assist parents in choosing the appropriate Celtic name for their baby as it provides an extensive list of evocative Irish names. But why an Irish name? For some reason, this musical language and the magical legends of Ireland have become very popular in the Anglo-Saxon world and further afield. The introduction discusses trends in the giving of names and mentions the most popular current Irish names. The chapter Little Dark One provides a cursory history of the settling of Ireland by the Celts and then lists and explains suitable names for dark haired people, such as Darcy, Douglas and Duane. In the chapter The Fairest Of Them All there's mention of the Tuatha De Danaan and a discussion of names like Barry, Finbar, Kelly, etc. Red haired people are treated in the next chapters, where some of the more common names are Rory and Rowan, whilst the next chapter deals with names deriving from the root words for light or brightness; these include Aidan and Keegan. A Celtic Menagerie provides names that are connected with animal names or qualities: here you will find Colm, Conan, Conor, Oscar and Ronan. In the chapter titled The Green Isle, names derived from plants are given, including Darren and Tyrone. Warrior names in the next chapter include Casey, Fergal and Kane. Wednesday's Child provides names for less worthy traits, like Doran, Etain and Kennedy. Banshee names include Bevin, Cliona and Una, while names invented by authors include Fiona, Gulliver, Imogen and Vanessa. The next chapter discusses and lists the retranslation back into Irish, of popular Anglophonic names and also provides a list of Irish names with their English translations. The A - Z index lists all the names and their meanings/histories alphabetically and is followed by a calendar of saints' feast days. This interesting read and valuable reference work concludes with a thorough index.

This is a literary and unusual name-book - well worth a look if you want to give your child, dog or goldfish an Irish name, but a fascinating read even for the non-parent because of the history of these beautiful names and the interesting way in which the author has grouped them. There are names for redheads, blondes and brunettes, names for warriors and gentlefolk, artistic names, and many others. This is a small gem and a triumph of research. I wish Mr Johnson would give us a similar insight into Native American names or even English names. Anything by this thoughtful writer would be worth reading.

A rich and resourceful guide. I learned so much about Irish history too. When Caitlin grows up I'll pass along this book to her.

I found this book to be quite helpful and full of information. I did expect it to be bigger, as in a physically larger book, but for it's size it is chock-a-block with names.

The book is divided up into sections so that you can find a name based on Irish animals, myths, saints, legends, etc and dark, light or red hair. Then there is a complete name listing from A to Z, a list that translates Irish names to English and another that does English to Irish.

What I especially liked was that the author gave you the Irish name, often an alternative spelling (ie. older or more tradish Irish), how to pronounce the name, whether it is for a boy or girl and Anglicanized alternative spelling(s). Each name has a short story about where it came from, what is it's meaning and any other names it is related to.

This is a great reference guide and enjoyable to simply read, too.

Only mildly accurate, the clumsy mix of true Gaelic forms along with Anglicizations leaves me a bit put off. This might make it useful to many, but it is not at all formal in structure. There are also some names with variations given that are just ridiculously old. Noone uses the root 'dub' in place of 'dubh.' Some truly ancient names are included, but their selections are random. It appears to be mostly gloss from a few limited sources.

We found this book very helpful, as it does not only provide a good number of names but also gives information about pronunciation and background. Well - actually, to be quite honest - we used it to find an appropiate name for our puppy, an Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier.

I am Irish and get very annoyed at the names people mistakenly take to be Irish, including many in this book! Just from reading some of the names suggested, you will NEVER find an Irish person called Shannon, Erin, Darcy, Duane, Keegan, Kennedy etc. I could go on...
The Shannon is Ireland's principal river and Erin is the Gaelic for Ireland (though it's actually spelt Éireann) and the others are either invented or they are surnames, NEVER given as first names in Ireland. If you came to Ireland with a name like Delaney or Magee, you would be ridiculed.
One important thing to note is that in the Irish (Gaelic) alphabet, there is no J.K,Q,V,W,X,Y or Z so any names with these letters are usually not properly Irish or sometimes they are an English translation. This book also seems to encourage the irritating habit Amercians have of lumping Scottish and Irish names in with each other - they are NOT the same thing!!!
There are many beautiful Irish names (particularly pleasing are the ones that non-Irish people find difficult to pronounce) but this book does not appear to be the place to find them! If you want to call your child an Irish name or if you like a name and want to know if it's Irish, ask an Irish person - a real Irish person living In Ireland I mean!

My husband's from Ireland, so we got this book thinking it would help to make our baby name decision easier. Half the names are made up, or last names used as first names (which no one does in Ireland). A lot of the pronunciations were wrong, as well as a lot of the meanings of the names. I haven't tried any of the other Irish baby name books out there, but if you're looking for an Irish name, I'd just use Google and check out a couple websites.

Or just want to be, this is an excellent way for you to find names that will fit those new arrivals. Find names and their meanings for pets or even book characters if you're an author. Complete with pronunciation guides and is easy to carry. Very useful!

I bought this book because I recently inherited a breeding cattery and the old owner was my Irish cousin so I thought how appropriate it would be to give the cats all Irish names. For instance i have a black ccat called Brandubh and a brown cat called Donagh, which means "brown warrior", because he is always fighting with Brandubh. There was also one old tabby who pretty much used to run the show so I called him Crimthann mac Fidaig after the old High King of Ireland, but then he was ousted by a nasty bobtail who i called Niall Noígíallach, who is Niall of the Nine Hostages, and on his birthday i like to bring him into the garden where I placed an ornamental stone i bought from Homebase which i call the Stone of Destiny like at Tara! All in all this book is obviously intended for people naming babies but I don't see why it can't be used to name cats too.