Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Top of the Top 18Comment: Interesting spelling and different grouping of names , but there is a lacking of meanings that can be found in other baby names books. Although there are lacings in this book there are good names and groupings.Customer Rating: Summary: Wonderful Book!Comment: This was a wonderful book! I'm only 13, but I just love names and this is my favorite name book out of the 6 I own. Thanks for making it wonderful, Kate Hanley!Customer Rating: Summary: Thank you Parent Soup!Comment: Parent Soup - you have done it! What a great "tool" to help with finding the perfect name! The category lists were a marvelous idea - everything from the standard lists (boy or girl names) to unisex names, ethnic names, and even how many syllables a name contains. My favorite parts of the book were the tips given by parents like me, who have been through it all - from how to handle giving your child a name that has been passed down in the family to which spelling to use for a certain name. These parents offer up their best advice to help you make the big name decision.
We had so much fun with this book as a family! My children really enjoyed looking up the meanings of their names, and even talked about what they might name their own children someday. I got the chance to tell each of my children again why we had chosen their names, giving them a little more insight into who they are.
I am giving a copy to an expecting friend as a shower gift. I think she and her husband will have a great time trying to find just the "right" name for their new baby. Thank you Parent Soup for putting this together with the help of your members!
Customer Rating: Summary: I Wish This Book Had Been Available To Me Long Ago!Comment: Parent Soup's Baby Name Finder is much more than lists of name possibilities. This book deals with the real issues that many parents face when considering names for their bundles of joy. Real parents from Parent Soup's online parenting community give tips on how to handle such issues as "dealing with flak from family and friends" and how to determine if you have a "keeper". The tips are not preachy; they only offer several opinions that all parents will want to consider.And those lists are fabulous! This book offers 42 lists in which to categorize names. If you want a Welsh name that has three syllables, you can find several here! You can even find out how your child's name ranks on a popularity scale. Did you know that Tatiana is one of the 50 most popular girls' names of the 90's?
My children thoroughly enjoyed looking their names up and learning about the ethnic origin associated with those names. Some were thrilled to find out that they had popular names, while others thought it was cool that their names were more "unique".
This book should be in every family's personal library. What a great resource for children when they have to do that inevitable report on the history of their names. And what a wondeful gift for soon-to-be parents. This book is just plain fun to read. It offers down-to-earth advice from "real" parents just like all of us.
Customer Rating: Summary: many names, questionable categorizationsComment: Coming from a swiss/german background I can't but add to the previous reviewer's comments. Apart from the anglo-saxon mainstream the book offers little insight. I've found at least one instance of each of the following errors: 1) names sometimes carry alternate spellings that sound very similar, but are variants of a different name 2) names that are obvious variants of each other are listed separately without cross-reference 3) the ethnic categories, as far as I could tell are often questionable and in some cases plain wrong 4) at least for my ethnic background, the selection of names seems rather odd, and many names only appear in short forms 5) meanings of greek/latin names are often inaccurate Bottomline: If you are looking for some inspiration, the book is ok. It carries a wide ethnic variety of names. However if you're interested in a particular area such as nordic names, you may be disappointed or even worse, misguided.
