Synopses & Reviews
Completely revised, updated, and expanded,
The New Age Baby Name Book is the quirky naming guide that has outlasted the trendiness of New Age. Now at 512 pages, with 10,000 new names for a total of 20,000, with over 125 new sidebars filled with naming rites, stories, trends, and reverse trends, cultural trivia, and quotes, it is the definitive resource for parents who wish to celebrate their child's life with a very special name, right from the outset.
Classic, popular, offbeat, and even gender-neutral, the entries are culled from dozens of cultures and traditions, and include pronunciation guides, meanings, and variations. Here are Native American names, Gaelic names, Swahili names, Arabic names, native Hawaiian names. There are Hebrew names and modern Israeli names, Old Welsh, Middle English, and contemporary Anglicized names. And for parents who wish to create an original name for their child, 12 delightful techniques--from anagrams (get out the Scrabble board) to telescoping from trends and respellings--for coming up with that perfect, one-of-a-kind name. In addition, readers discover naming practices from around the world, the psychology of names, which names sound the most educated and which the least, occupation names, power names for women, and more.
140,000 copies in print.
Synopsis
All the different ways you can choose-or even invent-a name that Means Something. (McCall's)
"A fascinating book that would make an original gift for expecting parents." (Baby Talk Magazine)
About the Author
Sue Browder is an award-winning journalist with over 300 articles to her credit. Her articles on relationships, health issues, and parenting have appeared in Woman's Day, New Woman, Reader's Digest, and Cosmopolitan magazines and the Washington Post, Newsday, and the Miami Herald. Besides the books published by Workman, Sue is the author of Born Dancing: A Guide to Baby's Body Language (Harper and Rowe) and co-author of Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Sex (Dutton). Her appearances on national TV include Oprah, Geraldo, and the Today Show. Sue is the mother of two children and lives outside Los Angeles with her husband.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
What's a "New Age" Baby Name Book?
CHAPTER 1
Choosing a Name for the Twenty-First Century
CHAPTER 2
The Psychology of Naming Your Baby
Name That Stereotype
CHAPTER 3
Twelve Fun, Easy Ways to Create a Special Name
CHAPTER 4
Choosing a Name from a Special Culture
CHAPTER 5
Choosing an Astrological, Magical, or Numerological Name
The Twelve Zodiac Signs
GIRLS' NAMES
Naming Customs: Familiar Names That Are Rarely Used
Important to Know: Does Higher Education Influence Baby Names?
Did You Know: Naming Babies After the Rich and Famous
The Legend of St. Barbara
Poetic Vietnamese Names
How Soon Will Your Baby Know Her Name?
Umbundu Proverb Names
Saintly Irish Names
Time-of-Birth Names
Magic Names
Did You Know: "Also Names"
Gift Names
Important to Know: Overly Unusual Spellings of Traditional Names
What if Your Baby Grows Up Hating Her Name?
Trait Names
African Order-of-Birth Names
Miwok Indian Seed Names
Naming Customs: Laplanders
Should Your Children's Names Complement Each Other?
Important to Know: How Much a Girl Likes Her Name
Newly Coined "La-" Names
Hawaiian Sky Names
Chinese Flower Names
Miwok Indian Chicken-Hawk Names
Important to Know: Trendy "Masculine" Girls' Names
"Sexy" Names: Drawbacks in the Corporate World?
Six Hidden Messages a Name Can Send
Miwok Farewell-to-Spring Names
Miwok Indian Bear Names
French-Sounding Girls' Names
How Classy is Cackle?
Naming Your Adopted Baby
Japanese Animal Names
Day-of-the-Week Names
Polynesian Nature Names
Japanese Virtue Names
Gender-Free Names
BOYS' NAMES
Did You Know: One-Third of Young People Wish for a Different Name
Israeli Holy Names
A New Naming Trend
Did You Know: What Your Signature Reveals
A Martyr Named Briant
Did You Know: Naming Your Child with Initials
Nigerian "Chi" Names
Naming Customs: Ultra-Trendy and Ultra-Original
Where Middle Names Began
Naming Customs: The Ultimate Act of Generosity
Did You Know: Crisis in China
Naming Customs: Formerly Masculine Names
Arabic Occupation and Title Names
The Longest Name in the United States
Did You Know: A Child's Name Is Central to His or Her Identity
New England "Trends"
Naming Customs: Spanish Nicknames
Did You Know: Surnames
Native American Nature Names
The Most Unpopular Names in This Country
Did You Know: Whom You're More Likely to Marry
Did You Know: Do Smooth-Sounding Names Influence Voters?
Miwok Indian Names
Nicknames: Insulting or Flattering
Nigerian Holy Names
To Each His Own
The Long and Short of Presidential Names
Hidden Meanings in Our Own Names
Naming Customs: Adult Nicknames
Naming Tip: How Flexible Should a Name Be?
Scandinavian Mythology Names
Miwok Indian Names
Lucky Chinese Names