Beyond Ava & Aiden: The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby

by Linda Rosenkrantz, Pamela Redmond Satran

The all-new, better-than-ever edition of "the classic baby-name guide." --The New York Times Magazine

Ever since they revolutionized the world of baby-naming with Beyond Jennifer & Jason--the first book to go beyond dictionary definitions to identify the image and style of particular names--Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran have brought their wit and insight to literally millions of parents. Now, America's baby-name experts pinpoint the very latest trends in this all-new, up-to-the-minute edition of "the best baby-naming book ever written" (The News Journal).

Fresh, fabulous, and irresistible, Beyond Ava & Aiden is packed with fascinating new tips and lists, including:

*Green Names (Bay, Willow, Aster)

*Hipster Names (Pearl, Ruby, Dexter)

*Names That Work (Archer, Baker, Carter)

*Vintage Chic (Daisy, Clementine, Felix)

*Metrodude Names (Jackson, Jax, Maddox)

*Baby Gods and Goddesses (Juno, Orion, Clio)

And many more inspired---and inspiring---choices.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2009

About the author

Linda Rosenkrantz is an American writer, known for her innovations in the realm of “nonfiction fiction,” most prominently in her novel Talk, a New York Review Books classic.

Reviews

[Deana · Rating 4 out of 5]

As many know, we are expecting our second child at the end of the next month. It seems more difficult to come up with names for the second child -- and others I have talked to have shared the same experience and said it gets harder the more you have, you use up the good name(s) early! So I got a few books and online resources to help give us ideas.

Although this book has fewer names than most, I really liked it a lot more. Most of these books are just long lists of thousands of names, maybe with definitions/etymology or cross references for related names/spelling variants. Looking through such books, my eyes cross and I fall asleep quickly.

This one on the other hand, was broken up into sections of names related in some way... maybe based on how traditional the name is, or names used by celebrities, or nature-based names, or bring back the 70s names, or multi-syllabic names, and so many more interesting groupings that I'm not remembering now because it took me a few months to get around to writing this review.

With each section, not only is there a list, but a few paragraphs of story, or history, or tales of people who had these names, etc to break up the monotony of the lists.

Yes, some of the names appear on multiple lists. But it's nice because the lists provide other names that have a similar "feel" to a name that you might like that your spouse vetoed, or doesn't go well with your last name, or whatever. I found it to be a great way of expanding my original seed list, rather than just reading a long alphabetical list.

And if you WANT the long alphabetical list, you can read the index of names, which goes for over 75 pages. Again, still shorter than most... but based on how many pages each name appears on you can learn something about them as well.

Overall, it was a fun read, gave us lots of ideas. Although yes, many names are not in this book at all. But I recommend if you are expecting!

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book! It was more then just a book filled page after page of names and their meanings. I liked how it makes it fun to read and how it compares names and compares names popular in different decades! Highly Recommend!

[Jenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, not pregnant. I just think names are interesting.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the categories

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally after reading a couple of baby name books, writting down my favorites, and crossing some out because I decided that I didn't like them because they were boring or my husband didn't like it. So, after 7 months(30 wks. to be exact)we agreed on a name. After we decided on a first name we picked out a middle name, which didn't take long. So, the verdict is in.

Here are the contents of the book. They are the creators of www.nameberry.com if you want to check it out online.

STYLE
What's Hot
A+ names
Millennial names
Star power
Names that work
Vintage names
Just Josies
So Far In They're Out
So far in they're out names
But Olivia is my favorite name
So Far Out They're In
Green names
Baby gods & goddesses
Uncool names
The Celts are coming
Unique-or close to it-names
Extreme exotics
Off the map
IMAGE

Hipster Names
Yupster Names
Unusual Names
But Seriously
Creative Names
Art
Fashion & design
Literature
Music & dance
Creativo
Fictional characters
Class & Names
The Perfect Balance
The Nickname Question
Last Names First
SEX
Naming A Daughter
Girly-girl names
Womanly names
Mom names
Girlish names
Boyish names
Mannish names
Naming A Son
Powerboy names
All-boy classics
Biblical boys
Metrodude names
Unisex Names
Unisex starbabies
Girl-Boy Name Equality
TRADITION
Trends Over Time
The early years
The nineteenth century
The twentieth century
African-American Naming Traditions
Muslims & Afreican names
Ava & Aiden:Patron Saints Of Popular Names
Jewish Names
Hebrew-Israeli names
The Kosher curve
Mixed-marriage names
International Ideas
Dutch names
French names
German names
Italian names
Scandinavian names
Spanish names
Whose Name Is It, Anyway
Sibling names
Double trouble
Bad Advice
The Riddle Of The Middle
Single-syllable middle names
Starstruck middles
You Say Marie, I Say Mariah
The Name Becomes The Child

Hope that helps. I really enjoyed the book. Very good suggestions and very informational.

[Carlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the way Rosenkrantz thinks...this book but especially the predecessor have been great places to find a fresh naming voice and dig our way out of the dizzying alphabetical lists that line the pages and pages and pages of other baby name books. After a while those sorts of book start to all blur...all names sound the same...nothing sparkles, nothing sounds good and you can hardly tell the difference between Brandon and Braden. Ms. Rosenkrantz has taken us out of the format (yea, removed meanings and origins altogether from her lists) and has categorized in newer, fresher ways....Nature Names, Word Names, Creative Names, Metro Names. I dig it.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that I felt that it felt slightly stale next to the previous book Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana...and just a little condescending or snide somehow. I got the "You're all looking for the same sort of fresh, unique name and that is a movement we created....you're all our minions." Nothing that truly overt but, just enough to make me bristle a bit and not linger with the book any longer than needed. And truly, I've been through every list and nothing really jumped out at me and we still haven't picked boy name options so....hmmm...maybe ultimately Rosenkrantz has let me down. Do check out her new website for baby names though, nameberry.com!

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Studied the naming trends in the US since the first settlers. It specifically discussed naming trends since the millennium (2000), which has brought about much change in naming. It gave many great ideas on how to escape traditional names, but not go too overboard.

[Geneil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as informative as Beyond Jennifer and Jason, I think... it's a shorter book, so I guess I shouldn't expect it to be as thorough. And it was still fun information, fun to read. Fun to think about names. :-)

[Lesli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book had some fasnicating information about baby name trends, history and cultural patterns of naming. The downfall to this book is the author does not include definitions.
She also has a website I've referred to, nameberry.com

[Caleigh Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for writers! This isn't your oridinary a to z listing of names. Names are grouped by perception: class, trendiness, gender issues, etc. A little euro-centric, but helpful none the less.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book of names. Names are listed by theme (type of name) instead of just a straight alphabetical listing. Very helpful. Although the selection was a little limited and the same names showed up in a few different sections.

[Kristen EJ Lauderdale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love their website but these lists were incredibly repetitive, not to mention there were entire sentences repeated throughout the book. The same names kept popping up again and again, which highlights how hard it is to find an off-the-grid but usable name, I suppose.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naming our little girl is going to be a bigger chore than I originally thought . . . this book helped us narrow down the search.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm. Not toooooo useful.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.

[Erica Larkin Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas and lists. Sometimes I think they are a little off the mark on certain names, and some of the lists seem trivial. Wish there was more about name meanings and origins.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts were interesting, but over all it was merely subjective opinion. A few of the quotes were amusing.