Genealogy Chat

I have a baby-names book too - aren't they fascinating! Mines a bit out-of-date - some of the names it gives as quite common haven't been used in fifteen years. Kathryn (purity)

I notice a lot of people ask about the origin of names. As a child I developed a bit of an obsessive interest in first names and one of my treasured books remains a favourite. It is called The Harrap Book of Boys and Girls Names by Charles Johnson and Linwood Sleigh. Both authors were academics and one I believe was a classics scholar so it is very erudite and learned. It was first published in the 60s so there isn't a Chardonnay or Courtney to be found but lots of info on old fashioned names with lots of info on the history behind them. Choice of first name can be very revealing. For instance a lot of Anglo-Saxon names were revived in the late Victorian era but were hardly seen before then. So you can make an educated guess on when someone was born just by looking at their name. A plethora of Old Testament names sometimes indicates a Non-Conformist family (although not always). Other names became popular because of a current book eg: Rowena was little used until the publication of Ivanhoe in 1819. I have a copy of said book if anyone is desperate but it is still available in second hand book shops although I'm not sure if it is now out of print. Just a thought.