The Penguin Classic Baby Name Book

by Carol Wallace

Expectant parents poring over baby name books—usually tomes as large and as interesting as phone books—are looking for that special name with special meaning, a name with a legacy, a name for the ages. What better place for book-loving parents to look for the right name than in literature?

Elegantly written, easy to use, and delightful to read, The Penguin Classic Baby Name Book is divided into sections of boys’ and girls’ names. Entries include information on origin, meaning, variations, and, most important, literary namesakes. Throughout the book are sidebars with mini essays about literary characters and naming trends, as well as quotations from the books themselves.

From The Penguin Classic Baby Name Book:

Chloe (Greek, “young green shoot”) A traditional name in pastoral poetry. The source is Longus’s fourth-century poem “Daphnis and Chloe,” which concerns the romance between the offspring of a goatherd and a shepherd. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Aunt Chloe is the wife of Uncle Tom. A wonderful cook, warm and loving, she is saving money to buy his freedom. When he dies, she is heartbroken.

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Carol Wallace, the great-great-granddaughter of Lew Wallace, is the author most recently of a new version of "Ben-Hur." It is the official tie-in of the new major film, releasing in August of 2016.

Carol is also the co-author of "To Marry an English Lord," which was one of the inspirations for "Downton Abbey," and author of the historical novel
"Leaving Van Gogh." Previous titles have included humor, parenting, and social history. In 2006 Wallace received a M.A. in art history from Columbia University. The research for her M.A. thesis provided the foundation for "Leaving van Gogh." A 1977 graduate of Princeton University, Wallace lives in New York.

Reviews

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love it! Especially valuable for fiction character naming.