The Complete Book of Magical Names the Complete Book of Magical Names

As a 25 year vetran of d20 role-playing games I have been searching for a definitive collection of names beyond the standard Jack and Jill and I have finally found it in "The Complete Book of Magical Names". While I have a passing interest in Wicca, I mostly purchased the book to help me satisfy my long term facination with language and particularly the names used by various ancient cultures and civilizations. I am positive that any writer or gamer would find this book an excellent edition to their collection.

. . .I *AM* a writer. I found this book a few months ago while I was in the beginnings of a brand new project, a fantasy/science fiction sort of story. This book proved to contain a wealth of information. I needed names for characters, and while searching through this book found some very interesting info in the process. I also found just the right names for the characters in my work. :) As for how useful this is for a pagan or Wiccan who wants to find a magical name, I honestly don't know. Based on my needs, however, it was great.

I was impressed with this book. I find myself referring to it over and over again. It was entertaining to read, surprisingly. I mean, one dosen't usually READ a baby name book, but this was readable. There were lots of interesting quotes, facinating history of names which I hadn't ever given much thought to before, and also the interesting folklore surround names. My favorite part was when the author listed her own family's and other Puritan names such as Flee Fornication, Be Good, and Ashes. It's very good for writers who are looking for different character's names especially the names from literature. I liked the book, found it a good read, vastly entertaining, and I am using it repeatedly. I think it's the best baby name book on the market.

The Complete Book of Magical Names was used as a baby name source. It was wonderful! No where else could I find so many non-Christian names. There were also lots of really different names. That's what a baby name book is supposed to have...lots of names, but this had a really well researched section on the history of names, and from a unique perspective. I'm not Wiccan, the intended audience of the book, but this book was very useful and I found it interesting. I particularly liked names from far away places. The Hawaiian names were so lovely if we had a daughter I'm sure we would have gone with an Hawaiian name. Beyond the baby name aspect, I learned a lot about how names affect those who wear them. I would recommend this book to any open minded parent to be. The only negative was that for a non-Wiccan there were lots of names that weren't suitable for baby names. The author no doubt expected Wiccan readers to use these as what they call "Magical Names" which are private and so can be a little stranger than a baby's name. My only other criticism was that it was organized well except that the Index of Characteristics at the back of the book should be at the front. Overall, I liked the book very much. It reads very smoothly and I found the writing witty, interesting, lively and provocotive. That's hard to do in something normally so dry as a baby name book.