Unusual and Most Popular Baby Names [Paperback]

Consumer Guide editors (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1997

Decisions! Decisions! This fun and fact-filled book will make an important choice easier, listing the 1,000 most popular baby names in America, as well as some of the more unusual names parents may consider. This book also includes a history of names, derivations, a listing of famous name holders, and variations on the common version of the name.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Consumer Guide (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451194349
• ISBN-13: 978-0451194343
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,010,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book shared enthusiastic names that shared good ideas., June 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Unusual and Most Popular Baby Names (Paperback)

I thought this was a wonderful, fulfilling baby name book and shared great ideas for your babies names. I loved how this book was so full of creative ideas and extremely helpful in chosing names. These names were defenitly unuasual or different and are up to beat, popular names. I have no complants or suggestions for this book and just wanted to share how I feel for others. Overall, this book was full of good names and and was emencely wonderful. Thank You , JDG

13 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entries are OK; preface and rankings, truly frightening!, January 7, 2000

By 

Ronald R. Kyser (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unusual and Most Popular Baby Names (Paperback)

If you're only in the market for a name dictionary (which any educated person should have on his shelf, not just the expectant), the "New American Dictionary of Baby Names" by Leslie Dunkling and Wm. Gosling gives a far beefier entry for each name-- meaning, history, translations, when in and out of fashion, etc.-- than this book does, and for the same price. (Sorry, but the Brits beat us hands down at this kind of thing.)

However, there are better reasons to get this. One is the above-average introductory essay, which goes into parents' reasoning, ethnic and geographic differences, and other issues. The other reason is the survey carried out by Dr. Evans of nearly eight hundred thousand 1990 newborns.

He ranks the top 500 names for each sex, which account for about 5 of 6 babies christened. (That's all, you say? Consider the percentage of children born to immigrants with very unusual names.)

This list speaks volumes, and should be studied by sociologists and historians, particularly those holding to a Gibbonesque or Spenglerian worldview. Grandma and grandpa's names, if here at all, will be near the bottom, and it's a shock to see how far even the "hot" names of the 1950's have sunk. Fashion is king, especially for girls, and the majority of names ultimately have the same meaning: "mommy's an airhead, and daddy humors her". Our ancestors would shudder at the sheer vapidity, and disloyalty, of their descendants.

Prof. Evans plays the diplomat in his introduction, titled "Naming Baby" (as if the new person will always be a baby!). He neither defends nor dismisses the thinking of modern parents, but merely sets forth their reasons. This alone can ruin a thinking person's day.

Dr. Evans has given us, whether by intention or not, the perfect tool to learn how NOT to name your child-- a most valuable service. Get this along with the Dunkling/Gosling book, and it's a well-invested...