The Name Book: Over 10,000 Names--Their Meanings, Origins, and Spiritual Significance

I bought this for my Dad. He's 91 and wants to know the origins of names. He's having lots of fun looking up names and the book in informative in this way.

I absolutely loved using this book to develop a special page of name recognition for all my employees for a staff meeting. It was very effective and they felt very engaged in the whole message of the meeting. Thanks loads. cindy riley

After searching three other baby name books (that each boasted 20,000 names or more - one even had more than 50,000 from around the world) and finding nothing that worked for our first child, I borrowed this book from a friend and found the perfect name. The name my husband and I chose wasn't in any of the other books. The same thing happened to the friend who lent me The Name Book - she has never found her first-born's name in another baby name book. The meanings in The Name Book are lovely, and the spelling variations allow parents to personalize names to their own tastes. Even though we knew the sex of our baby before she was born, it was still nice to have the boy and girl (and unisex) names listed together - it just gives you more options and it's easier to read. I'm ordering my own copy of the book since we're expecting our second child this year. (By the way, my lending friend is done having children - but she's keeping the book just because it's so wonderful!)

This book is comprehensive in its information, but does not try to be the same as other books with information about proper names. I appreciate the genderless organization, just alphabetical listings, with alternate spellings and nick-names included. Each name has the origin, although I found a few of them to be different from the expected and usual. The meanings and scripture associated with the names are the driving reason for my purchase of this book. I plan to use it as a teaching tool with my students, encouraging them with the meaning and scriptures for their names.

I use this incredible book when creating custom "Personalized Acrostic Name Blessings" as gifts for just about every occassion, and also in ministry, through my publishing company, Chalfont House. I love that a theme verse is suggested to mesh with the meaning of the name. Or, if the meaning of the name is less than wonderful, an alternate "spiritual connotation" is suggested too. This allows me to help people feel better about their name. For example, I can change "Mary" which literally means "Bitterness" into "Blessed". I like the listing of alternate name spellings, and that the names are all alphabetical instead of by gender. This is a great resource!