Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana: What to Name Your Baby Now

If you are tired of baby naming books that don't go beyond the origin and meaning of hundreds of names, then you will love this book! In it, the authors include trends and classifications of names that will help you to avoid the most overused choices. Of particular interest to me were the "So Far In They're Out," and "So Far Out They're In" sections which pinpoint some of the most popular names being used today.This book will also help you choose a name that will suit your child, whether from the "Fashionable Classics," "Creative Power Names," Feminine or Manly," or any of the foreign name sections. I really found this book to be useful because it helps you to see what other people find attractive or unattractive in a name so that you can settle on one that will make you (and hopefully your child) happy.If you prefer really different, or maybe somewhat bizarre, names then this book won't disappoint in that area, either. Suggestions for naming after objects, places, and soap opera characters abound...and you also get the (true, I've noticed) observation that more and more girls are receiving very "boy" names, while the same boy names are being used over and over for...boys!This is a must-have book for anyone laboring (pun intended) over a name for their baby. The options, descriptions, and creativity shown here will really help make the job a little easier.

This is not some list of origins and meanings, it actually gives you valuable information. When you name your child do you really think all his friends are going to care that his name means "little king"? This book is pure fun and education for those of us who love the name game. Beyond that it does something that I would love to be able to do with the same tact, it says "hey you, that name you're thinking about has been used way too much!" This book was written for all of us who think if we meet another Ashley or Brittany we just might scream. But it's also for those soon to be parents out there that still think Jennifer is hip and Sophie is an old lady name. I had this book long before becoming pregnant and still flip through it now that my daughter is three. I buy a copy for every close friend that become pregnant. I personally love this book!One warning though, if you like really common 80's type names i.e. Jennifer and Jason, you will probably really not like this book, however if you're ready to really explore all your options, this is the one for you! It's a great journey!

An amazingly informative, helpful, and fun book, BJ & J is the best guide for parents who are new to the naming scene, and it's also great for name-pros like me. I love the upbeat, unusual style of the writing and format; so many other name books that have commentaries are kind of depressing in their negativity. This book is not judgmental, it's simply honest, and it gives you the plain truth about how people will see your child's name. Many of the recommended names are classic, and it's not hard to see that the authors like unusual classic names. I also think all the lists are wonderful. The compelation of names in other countries is fabulous (especially the French and Greek names), and also the list of exotic/creative names. I recommend the larger edition, simply because the fonts are nicer and the format is overall more professional.

I think of this as kind of a "companion" book for people researching names - I don't know that it would really fill the bill to be the one and only source a couple uses to make their final decision, but it really motivates you to put some effort into coming up with the most permanent gift you will ever give your child. Whether or not one agrees with the highly subjective evaluations the authors give names on many levels, the book provides food for thought on aspects I certainly wouldn't have thought about.Plus: it reads amazingly easily - as opposed to 99% of other books I ploughed through, which became a chore. One weakness: names from other cultural backgrounds. While these are included - and not just as politically correct oddities, but as valid and even "hip" choices - I question where they were drawn from or how chosen for inclusion. As a native German speaker, I was very interested to see the German list. Given that it was, as can be expected, small (for more extensive lists I would logically look elsewhere than this type of book)I was surprised at how many names were inlcluded that I had never heard of before - much less known anyone of that name. If the German list was so skewed, I would assume that other language groups were as well.

This is a fantastic book. I've read virtually the whole baby name genre and there's nothing else out there half this funny or half this useful. The only other baby name book I ever recommend is another book by the same pair of authors -- The Last Word on First Names -- but the books are so different that you really need to read both books.Before my first pregnancy, I'd never given much consideration to baby name books; I'd always felt pretty confident that I would be able to come up with the perfect names for my children right out of my own head. But once confronted with the huge task of choosing a name out of the thousands and thousands of possible names, I realized I needed some help. And, since I'm one of those people who really likes to research things and explore my options, I went shopping for name books. Most books just present you with long boring lists of boys' & girls' names -- very much like reading a dictionary -- and don't put the names in any useful sort of perspective. Rosenkrantz and Satran, however, present the names in a series of really helpful lists, ie., trendy names, popular names, cool names,names you probably want to avoid and so on. I really appreciated the lists of celebrity baby names because those names tend to become very trendy and common a few years down the line and I wasn't interested in bestowing too-usual a name on any of my children. Thus the title -- Beyond Jennifer & Jason.But the main thing with this book is that it's a great read. Even if you aren't expecting a baby, this book is incredibly funny. I found all the lists were helpful to me in sorting out a lot of my baby-expectations. Did I want to give my boys smart-sounding names, handsome names, macho names. . . ? The authors are never less than brutally frank with their opinions, classifying names as wimpy or downwardly mobile and the result is never less than an extremely funny, helpful and revealing book.