The Perfect Name: A Step-by-Step Guide to Naming Your Baby [Paperback]

Jeanine Cox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 23, 2004

What expectant parent wouldn't grab onto a proven, fun plan for choosing a baby's name they'll love? A simple ten-step program shows how to determine what's most important to you, as you sift through names according to your family history, what's currently popular, sounds, meanings, ethnicity, originality, and familiarity (not to mention dealing with the suggestions of well-intentioned relatives and friends). You'll draw upon the diverse naming customs in other times and places, and become aware of psychological differences between naming a boy and naming a girl, as well as ways to find solutions when parents disagree. Best of all: more than 20,000 names to trigger your imagination, including sources, meanings, alternative spellings, and shorter and longer versions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeanine Cox is the co-founder and former publisher of BabyZone.com, the leading online destination for personalised parenting content and tools. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (August 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760742952
• ISBN-13: 978-0760742952
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,312,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Addition to the New Parent Bookshelf, April 25, 2005

By 

Donna S. Talarico "Writer" (Wilkes-Barre, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Perfect Name: A Step-by-Step Guide to Naming Your Baby (Paperback)

At first I didn't want to buy a baby name book. I had tons of ideas in my head. But when my boyfriend suggested we purchase one and cuddle on the couch perusing the pages- I couldn't resist.

We actually headed to a local bookstore to purchase this- and when I was looking on the shelves, I noticed a difference in the baby name books. Many were thin, almost like pocket dictionaries- so I assumed they were condensed versions that would not be as fun to look through. Also, many books I found seemed to read like a dictionary. While I'll confess to reading old Webster prior to a Scrabble match, it's boring. Pregnancy is exciting, and I wanted an exciting and helpful baby name guide- not just a list of names and meanings.

Then I saw Jeanie Cox'x The Perfect Name. The book for starters caught my eye by its colors. The top of the book's pages are color-coded so you can easily navigate through the boy and girl names. What I enjoyed even more than a huge, coloful dictionary portion, was that there was lots of parenthood/name quotes of famous people next to their names, as well as other trivia points.

But- this book is more than just a dictionary- it's a binch of meanings sandwiched between some helpful content. The first 50 pages are dedicated to how to cooperate with naming the baby between mom and dad. Then, the steps they list are accompanied by worksheets that are in the back of the book. First, you pick out names you like off the top of you head- then she tells you to play with alliteration, acronyms, and names from the bible, Shakespeare, nature, new age, places and surnames as first names. This all opens up your creativity and lets you find names you may have passed over. Finally, I love how it helps you narrow down the names by letting mom and dad join in together.

The only reason I gave this book four stars is because I felt it was missing something very important- PRONUNCIATION!! I know how to pronounce Tom, Dick and Harry- but not Rheged, Aegidius and Rocico! That would really help people who are looking for very unique names, especially Indian names.

Good luck to all the other new parents out there!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Name - The Perfect Book, September 25, 2005

By 

Reading in Tampa "Stephanie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perfect Name: A Step-by-Step Guide to Naming Your Baby (Paperback)

I recieved this book as a gift, normally I wouldn't purchase a baby name book so I guess that's why I was given it as a gift. I have to say that I'm very impressed with this book. I love that it does more than just give you a list of baby names. It gives you lots of information about everything leading up to choosing a baby name, the traditions, the dilemmas of name choosing, finding out the sex of the baby beforehand and so much more. I like the others have mentioned love the color coding.
The only down side for me as one of the others mentioned was pronunciation, I have a hard time figuring out how to actually say some names and it would have been helpful however for me that doesn't knock off any stars I still rate it a 5 because I found all the editorial about naming babies very informative and interesting unlike the simple list of baby names books on the market!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Perfect if you live in another country!, December 7, 2010

By 

Suzanne Miller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Perfect Baby Name: A Proven Plan for Choosing a Name You'll Love (Paperback)

I first wanted a book that was recently published to get 'newer' names, also I looked at the ratings on the books and chose this one. Boy was I wrong! Yes it is more 'interactive' as far as the exercises, but personally, I just want a book of names and meanings. The names in the books are ridiculous to say the least. There's your typical John, Jessica, Stephanie but the other ones just go to the other spectrum, there is no middle ground. And the majority of the names are from other countries, very few American, normal names. Bella for a boy? Palinurus, Pygamlion, Rajabu, Salmoneus, Sarsour, Siodhachan, Tatanka Ptecila (one name), Elf, Urban, Ysbaddaden, Zygmunt, these are just some of the stupid/weird/unpronouncable names listed in the book. There are cute little quotes and facts listed throughout the names but that's about the only thing I liked about the book. My husband read the names and didn't find one name he liked besides the few we already had. My other kids' names are Brayden and Jayce so I'm not looking for something too common or way far out there, just normal! This was definitely a waste of money and time. If you are looking for some crazy way out there names, then pick this.