The Facts On File Dictionary Of First Names

Describes the meanings, origins, and background of thousands of male and female first names used in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia

This Dictionary is part of the Oxford Reference Collection: using sustainable print-on-demand technology to make the acclaimed backlist of the Oxford Reference programme perennially available in hardback format. The fascinating and informative Dictionary of First Names covers over 6,000 names in common use in English, including the very newest names as well as traditional names. From Alice to Zanna and Adam to Zola this book will answer all your questions: it will tell you the age, origin, and meaning of the name, as well as how it has fared in terms of popularity, and who the famous fictional or historical bearers for the name have been. It covers alternative spellings, short forms and pet forms, and masculine and feminine forms, as well as help with pronunciation. The book includes extensive appendices covering names from languages including Scottish, Irish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, and Chinese names. Tables of the most popular names by year and by region are also included. From the traditional to the rare and unconventional, this book will tell you everything you need to know about names.

A classic, the baby name countdown (over 120,000 copies sold) is now fully revised and updated for the first time in a decade. Featuring more names than any other guide and based on more than 2.5 million birth records, the book includes brand-new data, a new introduction, a revised section on the most popular baby names of the past year and decade, and updated popularity ratings throughout. Discover at a glance the most popular given names from each decade of the 20th and 21st centuries, meanings and origins of the 3,000 top names, and thousands of rare and exotic monikers. Whether your taste in names is trendy, traditional, or international, The Baby Name Countdown is the ideal resource for every parent searching for the perfect name.

Presents over 3,000 bibliographic entries on the history and lore of Jewish family names and given names in all parts of the world from Biblical times to the present day. This work replaces the compiler's out-of-print JEWISH AND HEBREW ONOMASTICS: A BIBLIOGRAPHY (1977)

For each name Osborn provides a history, number, astrological sign, color, stone, element, and herb.

Do you love or hate your name? Do you know what it really means? How do you choose the right name for someone? With well over 6,000 entries, this is the most comprehensive dictionary of first names available. In addition to a new introduction from the authors, it provides the answers to all your questions on the meanings and histories of names, how they have risen or fallen in popularity, and who are the famous bearers from history, fiction, and the screen. There is detailed appendixmaterial which includes European, Arabic, and Indian names, and this new edition now contains detailed coverage of Japanese and Chinese names. Over 150 brand new first names listed, including Aeronwen, Ardal, Calista, Gaia, Macy, Nirvana, and Xena

Walter M. Miller, Jr., was one of the twentieth century's leading science fiction writers, a two-time Hugo Award winner and author of the classic novels A Canticle for Leibowitz and Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. This comprehensive literary guide provides more than 1,500 alphabetically arranged entries on Miller's life and body of work. It includes summaries of his two novels and all of his shorter works, character descriptions, explanations of the literary, cultural, historical, and religious allusions found in the works, as well as translations of all foreign words and phrases. This guide is meant to inform both scholarly and popular readings of Miller's work.

What accounts for our tastes? Why and how do they change over time? Stanley Lieberson analyzes children's first names to develop an original theory of fashion. He disputes the commonly-held notion that tastes in names (and other fashions) simply reflect societal shifts.