A Concise Dictionary of First Names

Do you love your name? Do you hate your name? What does your name really mean? How do you choose the right name for someone?

Here is the ultimate first name handbook--a delightfully informative, comprehensive survey, from the traditional to the new and unconventional. With well over 6,000 entries, this is the most wide-ranging dictionary of first names available. Over 150 names--including Calista, Gaia, and Macy-are added to this new edition. In addition to a new introduction from the authors, the Third Edition also provides the answers to all of your questions on the meanings and histories of names, how they have risen or fallen in popularity, and who the famous bearers of the names are from history, fiction, and the screen. Detailed appendix material includes European, Arabic, and Indian names. The new edition also contains detailed coverage of Japanese and Chinese names.

Completely revised and updated, this is the ultimate source for new parents and anyone interested in names or language.

Patrick Hanks is former Chief Editor for Current English Dictionaries at Oxford University Press. He now works as a freelancer. Flavia Hodges is a philologist, lexicographer, and publisher. OUP. He now works freelance. Flavia Hodges is a philologist, lexicographer, and publisher.