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"Writer's Digest" Character Naming Sourcebook
 
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"Writer's Digest" Character Naming Sourcebook (Hardcover)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Author), etc. (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (Sep 1994)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0898796326
  • ISBN-13: 978-0898796322
  • Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,416,168 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Synopsis
Lists more than 20,000 first and last names and their meanings, and includes advice on choosing appropriate names for specific genres.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars VASTLY overrated., 23 Aug 1998
By A Customer
For most writers, this book is simply a waste of time and money. The review that mentioned there are only ten surnames per etymological group made an important point, but unfortunately there are many other problems with this book. First, and I cannot stress this enough, unless you are doing historical or foreign writing, this book will be of very little use to you. There are very few contemporary American names in the book. Secondly, even if you are interested in doing historical work, for instance, the explanations of names are often pathetically inadequate. For instance, about 1/4 of all the Greek names have only this explanation "myth name." Thanks for the back-breaking research there. I know someone named Etzel, and by her name (Norse section) it simply says, "myth name (Atilla the Hun)". What does that mean? Is it a Norse myth about Atilla the Hun? It is some strange Norse-Mongolian hybrid myth? And I assure you I am not picking on embarrassing exceptions. This book may be of some use to writers working with historical or foreign subjects, but for the vast majority of writers, it is a waste of time and money. Do yourself a favor and buy a good baby book.
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Be Wary Here, 25 Feb 1999
By A Customer
For more than thirty years I have been reading aobut the meanings of names. I have had an interest since early childhood and so it was natural that I opted to purchase this book when I came across it. I am quite sorry that I did. I spotted two differences within a very short time. In all the years I have been reading about names I have found that Marie always means sweet, or something very close to that meaning, and the name Myrna always means bitter. In this book those meanings have been reversed. It is doubtful to me that all the authors of the many books and articles I have read during the past twenty-plus years have been wrong and the authors of this book are now presenting the correct information (for the first time?). It strikes me as much more likely that the meanings of these names were reversed in this book, which certainly leaves me wondering about how many other meanings could have been applied to the wrong name. I cannot trust any of them. I won't even try. The money spent on a book of this type that cannot be trusted is a waste of money. A waste of my money anyway. I strongly suggest caution in accepting as fact anything in this book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars This book was far overadvertised., 28 Mar 1998
By A Customer
It was amazingly disappointing, the contents of the book. Sure it may have had thousands of first names for every group from "Persian" to "Arthurian Legend", but equally as important is the surname. The surname sections were a joke -- no more than ten for any one ethnic group were listed. That's right -- TEN! After I use up all ten, say, German surnames, what's next? We really need a richer variety of last names to use from. Furthermore, I don't really think it necessary to know the meaning of tens of thousands of utterly obscure first names -- all the research went into creating yet another clone of a name-the-baby book instead of a good resource for first and last names from many lands. Also, adding a few Oriental countries to the mix would have been nice, too. The Japanese, Hindus and Thais all have a rich pool of first and last names to explore, and even the Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese and Hmong have enough common names to warrant a chapter each in this book for anyone who wanted to say, name a Vietnamese character but couldn't think of anything other than Nguyen or Tran. A systematic search of first names to include all the names anyone's ever heard of, combined with a study of thousands of last names to include, could raise this book from a 3 to a 10.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this book!
This is the best name book I've ever seen. Not only does it have a lot of unusual names, but someone finally got a clue and broke them down into originating languages. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!! The Best Ever!
All my writing friends have suggested I get this book and when it came, it knocked me off my feet. This is the best reference book I've ever bought and if you're serious about... Read more
Published on 5 Dec 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the All-Time Greats!!
I wish I could thank Sherrilyn Kenyon for writing this book. It was a long time coming and I can't tell you how much this book has helped me. Read more
Published on 24 Jul 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best reference book I own
Man is this the greatest book ever concieved for writers. I thought the phone book was a great source until a friend introduced me to this. Read more
Published on 24 Jul 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! The Best Book going!!
I don't normally write a review, but when I saw someone trashing what has to be the greatest name book ever written for writers, I just couldn't remain quiet. Ms. Read more
Published on 14 Jul 1998

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