Chambers Dictionary of First Names - Softcover

Cresswell, Julia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0550104291 ISBN 13: 9780550104298

Publisher: Chambers, 2009

Synopsis

- What does the name Calvin mean?
- What is the meaning of Beverley?
- Which boy's name means 'little seal'?
- Which girl's name means 'spear strength'?
- And what links Merle and Mavis?

Chambers Dictionary of First Names offers pronunciations,
meanings, histories, variant spellings and other colourful
information about 10,000 names in more than 4,000 entries. It also explains
changing fashions in names, mentions famous historical,
literary or cultural figures who bore a name and offers
invaluable advice on everything from cultural traditions to
potential pitfalls in naming your child.

Whether you're an expectant parent, have a scholarly
interest or simply want to look up your own name or those
of your friends, you will find Chambers Dictionary of First
Names to be endlessly fascinating.


answers

bald; beaver stream; Ronan; Gertrude;
both are birds: Merle means blackbird and Mavis means songthrush

About this title

About the Author

Julia Cresswell is the author of over a dozen books, all of which are connected with the history and development of words, names and language.
She was educated at the Cheltenham Ladies College and St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she studied English with a special emphasis on the medieval and the history of the language. Here, she first became fascinated with the way the English language has developed and the influences that have directed its development. She subsequently gained a PhD at the University of Reading.
She has split her working life between writing and teaching. She has taught for both the Oxford universities and at some of the many American university programmes in Oxford. She now concentrates on the American colleges and summer schools for the Department of External Studies at the University of Oxford.
Her numerous books include The Cat's Pyjamas: The Penguin Book of Cliches (Penguin, 2007), Naming Your Baby: The Definitive Dictionary of First Names (A & C Black, 2007), First Names (Collins, 2003), From Trojan Horse to Soup Dragon: Collins Dictionary of Allusions (Collins, 1997), Bloomsbury Dictionary of First Names (Bloomsbury, 2001) and The Guinness Book of British Place Names (with Fred MacDonald, 1993).
She is married with one son and lives in North Oxford.

Edition details

• Publisher: Chambers
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0550104291
• ISBN 13: 9780550104298
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480