Baby Names for the New Century (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Paula Samuelson's Baby Names for the New Century offers a wide variety of names from around the world, providing a global focus that puts Nanymka from Ghana next to Nana from Hawaii and Nancy from the Hebrew. While sticking to mainly short descriptions (such as "master of his domain" for Henry), Samuelson does include a vast data bank at the end of the book which breaks names into thematically focused categories, including sports, literature, movies and television, aeronautics, and nature. What's more, each category associates names with famous people throughout history, allowing parents to bet on whether history can actually repeat itself.

Product Description

You want a name that gives your baby a foundation for forging a unique identity, a name that expresses your hopes for the future.Here is the 90's approach to finding a name for your baby that perfectly reflects your lifestyle.your interests,and your heritage.In tune with today's changing world,the extraordinary Baby Name Data Bankprovides modern parents with classical, multi-cultural,and ethnic listings.

This up-to-the-minute guide gives you the widest possible variety of names for boys and girls. Its unique format offers flexibility and creativity so that you can select the ideal name that will carry your child through the 21st century.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (May 11, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061007536
• ISBN-13: 978-0061007538
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,385,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst name book I've ever bought., July 29, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Missouri) - See all my reviews

I love languages and names in particular, and I am used to purchasing name books. Buying this one, however, has really let me down. Some of its drawbacks I can think of, off the top of my head, are: it does not include a number of current and even trendy names, the pronunciations are often not written clearly (with an occasional "just flat wrong" pronunciation given), and some of the definitions and origins are inaccurate, if not completely inaccurate. Sure, any name book can have a lot of interesting names, but my suggestion is to buy just about any baby name book /but/ this one.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Below average­­I wish I hadn't bought it, August 1, 2000

By A Customer

I was disappointed with what I found between the covers of this book which looks, from the outside, very helpful and informative. I found the selection of names left something to be desired, and there was nothing very exciting with the names that were here. The format isn't the best, and I would not count on this book to look up accurate meanings. I do like the fact that the 500 most popular names have their popularity number after them in the meanings index, but this small fact can hardly compensate for the number of faults this book has.

As an author as well as a baby-name enthusiast, I found it lacking the necessary elements for a good resource in character naming. Though it might look helpful, it wasn't in the end.

My advice, if you're thinking about getting it: don't. You'll wish you didn't. Spend your money on something by Rosenkrantz and Satran, or Lansky.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Found "Multicultural" section lacking, February 22, 1999

By A Customer

While this book has many fine choices for names, I bought it as I have a mixed heritage and would like to reflect that in the choices for my children's names. However, the multicultural aspect was at times nonexistent, and in some cases, quoted names that were not of the origin specified. There have been discussions on Internet Boards about this book, all readers have questioned the research as I have. Would recommend as a general baby name book, but if you want more than a less than one sentence meaning or accurate ethnic names, steer clear.