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 Here is the first review for Baby Names Made Easy. It is by Rhonda Owen and appeared in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette on February 11, 2009.

 

Baby Names Made Easy, Amanda Elizabeth Barden (Fireside Books, $15)

There are many books about baby names on the market, with most providing alphabetized lists of good names, stupid names, solid names, trendy names, happy names and so on. Here comes one more, but not more of the same because this one provides lists based on meaning.

Amanda Elizabeth Barden, a lawyer and baby-name enthusiast in San Francisco, has listed more than 40,000 potential baby names in a “reverse dictionary” manner by definition. Within each category, boys’ and girls’ names are separated.

Parents with an interest in astronomy could consider, among many others, names such as Hestia (girl), a Persian word for star, or Jericho (boy), which is Hebrew for moon. If you want names denoting peace and freedom, you’ll find selections such as Galen (boy), Greek for peace, and Lana (girl), Irish for pretty (or Latin for woolly, the book says).

Other categories include: animals and insects; colors, bright and shining; greatness, purity and innocence; magic; nature; military and patriotism; dreams and hopes; royalty, rulers and regal things; and love and affection.

There’s even a list of names that mean sadness and trouble. On it, find Chandi and Chanda (girl), which are Hindi words meaning angry, and Iniko (boy), a Nigerian word meaning “troubled time.”

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