Celtic Names for Children

by Loreto Todd

A dictionary of over 2,000 Celtic names from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany. But more than that, it gives the origin and meaning of each name plus traditional stories, myths or poems for selected names. A pronunciation guide and variant names are also included. Ideal for all those interested in Celtic culture, and in particular for anyone choosing a name for their child.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Loreto Todd is Professor of English at the University of Ulster, Coleraine. Born in Northern Ireland, she attended Queen's University, Belfast where her classmates included poet Seamus Heaney and writer Seamus Deane. She worked in England for many years, and was director of the programme of World English Research at the University of Leeds, England.

She has travelled extensively and lectured in Africa, America (North and South), Asia (India and Singapore), Australia (Brisbane and Sydney), the Caribbean and the Pacific (Hawaii, Solomans, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea). She has written 30 books, over 80 articles and chapters in books; over 100 reviews, short papers and has edited several journals.

During her travels, she has amassed a collection of texts, as well as audio and audio-visual recordings, from around the world. These total in excess of 12 million words and include: Conversations; Descriptions of language choice and use; Oral and written literature. She is currently working on this archive material and translating the Pidgin and Creole texts.

Reviews

[QS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would likely have been slightly more interesting to read when it came out 16 years ago, as a curiosity on the trend in Celtic names of the time, but a) 16 years ago I was 10, and b) that's not why I picked this book up anyway. It'll be a good resource for what I want and I managed to get two note cards worth of names out of it, while learning a little bit about mythology from the area, so I'll just call it a win all around. I need more books like this.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always been fascinated by names in general. I do have a number of baby name books already in my collection but this one is particularly interesting because it presents not just meanings but pronunciations as well.

[Abigail Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite source for names for my stories.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview of the different Celtic baby names there are to be found in the various Celtic regions.

[Grete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointing on a scholarly level, although the collected names are fascinating.

[VBergen · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book was fine but it lacked better explanations about the meaning of the names. It was more like "this name is famous because of the well known artist...".