Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana : What To Name Your Baby Now - Softcover

Rosenkrantz, Linda; Satran, Pamela Redmond

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312199708 ISBN 13: 9780312199708

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 1999

Synopsis

The book all new babies want their parents to read--now with the latest predictions, inspiration, and advice.

"In the decade since we've begun writing about names, the world of baby-nbaming has mushroomed from a sleepy little enterprise, with parents naming their children Jennifer and Jason and wondering whether there might be anything more exciting out there, to an adventurous and intelligent and style-conscious activity in which parents investigate everything from their family trees to names from their ancestors' native lands to atlases and even dictionaries that are ever more inventive, individual, and enlightened." --Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran

No one knows baby names like these two experts--whose first book Beyond Jennifer & Jason predicted back in 1988 that then-obscure place names like Madison were "so far out they're on their way in" (They were right too: By 1998, Jennifer had gone from #4 in popularity to #24 and Madison had become the ninth most popular name for baby girls). This is the guide that tells you what you really need to know: which names are hot, which names are not, and which names are on their way up or down. Who cares if "Cameron" means "crooked nose" in ancient Scottish Gaelic? If you love the name, you want to know whether it's still as right for a boy as for a girl, and if there are going to be five other Camerons in your child's class at school.
The brand-new edition of thie groundbreaking book gives you thousands of new choices and the kind of knolwedgeable guidance you won't find anywhere else. There are all-new sections, with all-new research, on naming a girl and naming a boy today, as well as fresh insights into the power of a name to influence your child's life, and lists of the most important styles and trends:
Gender bending--names that defy old stereotypes
Ethnic names--vastly expanded multicultural options to reflect almost any heritage
Celebrity baby names--the most comprehensive up-to-date listing of who's naming their baby what
What's hot now--plus The Classics: Sixty Traditional Names that Transcend Time

About this title

Review

For expectant parents, it's part of the tradition to pore endlessly over baby-name books searching for the perfect moniker. Names carry stereotypes, vary in perceived attractiveness (a blond bombshell named Gertrude?), and help influence how we see ourselves. As Sigmund Freud once said, "A human being's name is a principal component in her person, perhaps a piece of his soul." In Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana, name experts Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran present a baby-name book that goes far beyond the usual name lists and definitions. Satran and Rosenkrantz provide a thorough history of American naming traditions, discuss the psychological and sociological impact of names, and, yes, include list after list after list of possibilities organized into categories: popular names, old-fashioned names, comfy names, yuppie names, African-American names, androgynous names, Shakespearean names, unpopular names, creative names, mythological names, effective and ineffective middle names, classical names... and so on. Annotated with humorous notes, descriptions, quotes, and name-derivation definitions, the book is a fun and fascinating read even for those not debating between Gravity and Jane or Mason and Hendrick. --Ericka Lutz

From the Author

"In the decade since we've begun writing about names, the world of baby-naming has mushroomed from a sleepy little enterprise, with parents naming their children Jennifer and Jason and wondering whether there might be anything more exciting out there, to an adventurous and intelligent and style-conscious activity in which parents investigate everything from their family trees to names from their ancestors' native lands to atlases and even dictionaries for names that are ever-more inventive, individual, and enlightened."

--Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0312199708
• ISBN 13: 9780312199708
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 416