A Concise Dictionary of First Names

click here for more details, find new or used items	Patrick Hanks, Flavia Hodges Our price £5.24 (£6.99) New from £1.52 Used from £0.01 Pages: 336 (Paperback) ISBN: 0198662599 Pub: OUP Oxford Pub date: 2001-06-21 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 667355

Reader Reviews:

Disappointing (0/0 people found this helpful)

I recently purchased this book as a reference book for naming characters in my stories. What I was looking for was a baby names book that would offer me a wide selection of names, with clear definitions and origins.
What I got was a book that isn't particularly clear on what it contains. On the back, it says "Do you know what your name really means?" It claims to provide the answers to your questions. Upon opening the book, I found mostly descriptions of name origins, and barely any information on what the names actually mean.
For example, my name is Chloé. I looked it up, and rather than finding 'meaning = green flourishing shoot' (which I know is what my name means), I found a short paragraph containing biblical references and things about the name being used in the 17th century.
My name is not the only name to not name a full explanation. Almost all of the names in the book are like this.
On the whole I was intensely disappointed with this book, and promptly returned it. If you're looking to discover clear meanings to first names rather than the origins, do not buy this book. It is very detailed if you are interested in the origins of names, but what good is knowing just the origins of a name when you don't know what the name actually means?

Very helpful (4/5 people found this helpful)

This was extrememly helpful when I was choosing the names of my children. There are extensive listings of many different names with their meanings also. Very good!

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