20,001 Names for Baby: A Comprehensive Guide for Expectant Parents―Meanings, Origins, and Nicknames

by Carol Wallace

An indispensable guide to choosing the best name for your new baby, in a convenient and portable Gem edition. Choosing a baby's name is one of the first and most delightful responsibilities for moms and dads-to-be. This comprehensive book will help them make that all-important choice from one of the most up-to-date alphabetical listings available. With information including: -The origins and meanings of names -Popular nicknames and derivations -Names made popular by famous people -Fascinating facts of historical interest -And much, much more! Expectant parents will find everything they need to know to choose the perfect name for their baby.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Writing, Parenting

432 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Carol Wallace, the great-great-granddaughter of Lew Wallace, is the author most recently of a new version of "Ben-Hur." It is the official tie-in of the new major film, releasing in August of 2016.

Carol is also the co-author of "To Marry an English Lord," which was one of the inspirations for "Downton Abbey," and author of the historical novel
"Leaving Van Gogh." Previous titles have included humor, parenting, and social history. In 2006 Wallace received a M.A. in art history from Columbia University. The research for her M.A. thesis provided the foundation for "Leaving van Gogh." A 1977 graduate of Princeton University, Wallace lives in New York.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is ok- not super comprehensive, but ok.
I think I’m just frustrated because I’ve been staring at name books for three days straight and we’re no closer to a name. 😆

[Ana Mardoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

20,001 Names for Baby / 0-380-76227-7

As a writer, I like to buy "baby name" books and browse through them when looking for meaningful names. I really like the orientation and approach of this particular name book. Each name has a given country or language of origin, the meaning of the name (all of which seem very well researched), and notable actors/politicians/literary characters who have shared the name.

This last bit - reminding the reader of notable occurrences of the name - is very useful; you might not remember that "Templeton" is the greasy rat from "Charlotte's Web" without a gentle reminder here. The book also notes how heavily used the name is, and in which region, although this information is is anecdotal, not numerical (i.e., "Usage has tailed off in recent years").

The only thing this book is in need of is a new revision - the version I have is old enough that the entry for "Hermione" notes that the name is almost completely unused!

~ Ana Mardoll

[Jordan Lombard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best baby name book I've found so far. This book tells you everything you want to know about the origins and popularity of the names. It's not the author's opinion on what's a good name or not.

Great book for writer's looking for character names!

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look they had it!!!