Beyond Ava & Aiden: The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby
Beyond Ava & Aiden: The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby
The all-new, better-than-ever edition of “the classic baby-name guide.” –The New York Times Magazine
Ever since they revolutionized the world of baby-naming with Beyond Jennifer & Jason–the first book to go beyond dictionary definitions to identify the image and style of particular names–Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran have brought their wit and insight to literally millions of parents. Now, America’s baby-name experts pinpoint the very latest trends in this all-new, up-to-the-minute edition of “the best baby-naming book ever written” (The News Journal).
Fresh, fabulous, and irresistible, Beyond Ava & Aiden is packed with fascinating new tips and lists, including:
*Green Names (Bay, Willow, Aste
List Price: $ 12.95
Price: $ 4.99
Poorly edited, contradictions throughout,
I loved the earlier versions of this book. I used Beyond Madision and Montana in naming my firstborn. I am now expecting again and was happy to find a new version. WAS happy. Until I read it. There are so many contradictions, it’s like they randomly put names into contradictory lists, then when names fall or rise, no matter what they can say they predicted right.
I gave this book two stars instead of one only because of the inclusion of some new categories of names, such as the hipster and yupster lists.
This book needed an editor. I think that it was rushed to print based on the success of the previous editions. I recommend picking up an older edition and double-checking your name choice’s current popularity on the SSN newer lists.
Big problems:
1. Names appear on conflicting lists. Some names appear on the lists for masculine names. Then some of the same names are on the unisex lists!
Cade is on powerboy and unisex. Either a name is unisex OR masculine. Not both.
Cale is on both Powerboy and Metrodude. Those are not the same things. At all. I’m sure people read one list, find a name they like, and then choose it…never realizing that their “powerboy” name might also have been picked by someone for their sweet little GIRL. Or, a parent picks a “unisex” name for their princess, then learns it’s really got a “powerboy” image.
P. 132 – Katie is on the “mom names” list – the description says these are names you wouldn’t want to name your little girl today because they’re dated. P. 133 – Katie is on the “girlish names” list – cute and girlish names that hold on to their appeal. Oh, but they do say that some of the girlish names are also now grandma names. How is this supposed to be helpful? It’s like this book was written by ten different people and then not even edited! There is an index with the names listed, was it too much trouble for an editor to go over the index for each name?
P. 127 Agatha is under “womanly names” your daughter might thank you for as she grows up. P. 47 it’s listed as an uncool name, so your child better have good self esteem if she ends up stuck with this name.
2. The cool, cooler, coolest lists demonstrate how arbitrary their lists really are. Some names that appeared in previous lists have now just been flipped around. So, the old coolest is now cooler, and the old cooler is now coolest. Exactly how is this relevant? How is this reflective of trends? People read your previous book, saw the “cooler” name and used it, so now it’s coolest? Doubtful.
3. The names on the unisex list are ridiculous. How many girls are named Charleston? Most of these names are either 1)good for a dog, 2) girl’s names, 3) boy’s names. You can pick a boy’s name for your girl, and vice versa, or you can pick a true unisex name. Riley, at this point, it being used pretty evenly for girls and boys. That makes it unisex (like it or not). Charleston, etc., are boy’s names (or dog’s names). That makes it a boy’s name that you used on your daughter. Some people want that, but you should know that before you use it. Don’t trust this list.
4. Hollywood star’s children’s names are repeated many times, and not always disclosed as star’s children’s names. I would want to avoid the names, and I don’t want to see them over and over anyway. There are at least three sections of star and star’s children’s names. With a lot of the same names. Filler.
5. They still have Candida sprinkled throughout the book. Candida was all over the last book, too. Candida is another name for yeast infection. I suspect someone named their own daughter Candida and they really wanted it to catch on. To paraphrase a funny movie – Stop making Candida try to happen. It’s not going to happen.
Overall, since you have to double and triple check everything in this book, what’s the point? Flip through it and get a few ideas, then go buy a book that’s at least been well-edited.
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|BEST NAME BOOK BY A MILE!!,
This book is unlike your typical name book that gives you lists of 1000′s of names (most so strange or out of style that no one would use them) and instead gives you actual information and advice. Pamela and Linda have been writing these books on names for years and they are by far our countries “Baby Naming Experts”. It tells you about the names popularity, what others think of it and how your child will be perceived having the name. This book was so entertaining to read too! How many baby naming books can you say that about? If you have a baby to name this is the one book you should spend your money on! I loved it!
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|A Gem in the Nomenclature Crown,
What a delight to see another book published by those tireless and witty baby names experts, Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran!
Aptly described by The New York Times as being the “better-than-ever edition of the classic baby name guide,” authors Rosenkrantz and Satran have their fingers on the pulse of modern-day onomastics, as they not only present and predict those top names that appeal to today’s parents, but also revive classic, forgotten, and clearly non-trendy names that parents-to-be might not otherwise have considered. If a particular name should appear on more than one list, there is a good reason for it: The authors leave no stone unturned in their presentation of the various ways in which names are perceived.
Those already familiar with the authors’ previous books, as well as their entertaining blog, will appreciate the authors’ now-famous themed lists throughout this book — themed lists that provide ease of scanning when considering names. These themed lists are preceded by descriptive text, accurately highlighting the historical background upon which the particular theme is based. For example, in the section titled “African American Naming Traditions,” we learn about the evolution of African American names, from the infamous plantation days (one-fifth of African American names were of Greek and Roman classical origin) to the mid-19th century when these names were influenced by the New Orleans use of French-style prefixing, to today, when ethnic identity claims a large role in name selection.
Other ethnic groups are represented as well, in lists titled “The Celts Are Coming,” “The Kosher Curve,” and a section on “International Names.”
This book is a yet another gem in the Rosenkrantz/Satran nomenclature crown.
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