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    A Dictionary of First Names

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    A Dictionary of First Names

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    A Dictionary of First Names

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    58   REVIEW

    applications. Although this reference certainly will not provide all of the information needed to
    understand CIM technology and practices completely, it is an excellent starting point. Linguistic
    Identity Matching provides a fascinating look into a world that most of us come into contact
    with each and every day without ever even noticing it.

    Germanic Society for Forensic Linguistics (GSFL) I. M. Nick

    A Dictionary of First Names. By Patrick Hanks, Flavia Hodges, and Kate Hardcastle. 2nd
    edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2006. Reissued in Oxford Reference Collection, 2016.
    Pp. xxviii + 434. $35.00 (hardback). ISBN 978-0-19-880051-4© American Name Society 2017.
    Onomasticians and linguists know Patrick Hanks as the former chief editor of current English
    dictionaries at Oxford University Press (1990–2000) and editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Family
    Names in Britain and Ireland, with Richard Coates and Peter McClure (2017), and the Oxford
    Dictionary of American Family Names (2003). With Flavia Hodges, he published the Oxford
    Dictionary of First Names in 1990. A second edition, in collaboration with Kate Hardcastle,
    appeared in 2006 and now has been reissued in the Oxford Reference Collection. The new format
    makes this valuable compendium accessible handily (~5¼ × 8 in.) and economically, in keeping
    with the announced goal of the series: “The Oxford Reference Collection uses sustainable print-
    on-demand technology to make the acclaimed backlist of the Oxford Reference Programme
    perennially available in hardback format” (pre-title page).
    The heart of A Dictionary of First Names remains the entries of over 6,000 first names, defined
    as “the first of a sequence of one or more given names borne by an individual,” with the corollary
    explanation that a “given name is one that is bestowed on a child by its parents or guardians at
    birth, as opposed to an inherited surname” (xi). The distinction between a first given name and
    a second or other given name becomes important as a criterion for inclusion in the work. As the
    authors explain, second and third and additional names are drawn from a much wider range, often
    including mothers’ surnames or choices unique to the family of origin. Only once such a name
    has achieved enough popularity to serve as a common given name, such as Douglas or Dudley,
    is it included in the dictionary (xi).
    Entries in A Dictionary of First Names, printed two columns per page, interfile male and
    female names, identified with the symbol ♂ and/or ♀ immediately after the name, in continuous
    alphabetical listings. The name’s description follows the gender marker, typically including the
    language from which the name is derived, its meaning, and, as available, such information as
    historical point of origin, periods of popularity, and famous historical or literary figures who
    carry the name. When warranted, alternate forms and spellings are listed at the end of the entry,
    i.e. short form, pet form, and variant(s). Entries do not include pronunciation.
    Two medium-length entries are given below as representative. Note that they embed cross-ref-
    erences, indicated by an arrow and change in font, that direct readers to related entries within
    the work.
    Kelsey ♀, ♂ Transferred use of the surname, which is from an Old English masculine per-
    sonal name Cēolsige, derived from cēol ‘ship’ + sige ‘victory’. Its use as a girl’s name may
    have been influenced by such names as ►Elsie. In the United States the spelling Kelsey is
    reserved chiefly for boys.

    variants:Kelsi(e) ♀. (156)

    Sandra ♀ Short form of Alessandra, the Italianate form of ►Alexandra. A major influence
    in establishing this as a common given name in the English-speaking world was George
    Review   59

    Meredith’s novel Sandra Belloni (1886), originally published as Emilia in England (1864);
    the heroine, Emilia Sandra Belloni, is a beautiful, passionate young singer. (241)
    The dictionary’s 285 pages of name entries are prefaced by two valuable introductions. On pp.
    vii–x is the Introduction to the Second Edition. Foremost among the topics it addresses is “Coining
    a New Name.” Beginning with today’s most popular form of coinage, the creation of names
    from unique letter combinations, the authors then discuss suffixation, e.g. -ina, -etta; blends,
    e.g. Diana + Andrea → Diandrea; respellings; and vocabulary words as names, e.g. Poppy, Rain.
    Next, the authors take up “Borrowing Names from Other Languages,” the adoption of names
    from a given language by speakers of other languages. Recognizing this growing practice, the
    authors assemble 13 appendices with “the most common names in some of the non-English
    cultures that will be of greatest interest to English-speakers” (x). The 149 pages that comprise
    these appendices make a significant contribution to the dictionary, useful for readers researching
    names of non-English origin and, more widely, for audiences interested in the globalization of
    the name pool.
    On pp. xi–xxvii the authors include the extensive Introduction to the First Edition, which
    describes the scope of the work, the role of names as social expression and personal identity, and
    fundamental sources of names in European cultures, including Biblical and saints’ names, names
    from classical antiquity, names from pre-Christian European cultures, and royal names, along
    with a short comment on the gender-marking of names, including women’s names derived from
    men’s. It concludes with six and a half pages on “Naming Practices in Different Cultures,” with
    micro-commentaries that can serve as preface, so to speak, to the appendices that would appear
    in the second edition 16 years later.
    Following the main dictionary are those 13 appendices with names from specific linguistic
    origins, presented in alphabetical order: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Indian, Irish, Italian,
    Japanese, Russian, Scandinavian, Scottish, Spanish, and Welsh. These compendia provide useful
    if shorter entries, three columns per page, in the same format as entries in the main dictionary,
    to which they are frequently cross-referenced. An entry from the seven-page Appendix of Russian
    Names serves as example:
    Timofei ♂ From Greek Timotheos ‘honour God’. See Timothy in main dictionary. (383)
    Although the Table of Contents (v) indicates a total of 22 appendices, the text provided for review
    includes only the 13 for names compiled by language of origin. Missing are Appendix 14 on unisex
    names and Appendices 15–22, which list the most popular names in the chief English-speaking
    countries (2003 or 2004) and by half-century for England and Wales and for the US (1954–2003).
    Many online resources for onomasticians exist today, including two key first-name databases
    linked from the American Name Society webpage, BabyNames.com and Behindthename.com.
    Both dating to 1996, these important websites have seen exponential growth over the past two
    decades, growth related in part to the expansiveness of online formats, with the capacity for detail
    both verbal and visual, interactive displays, hyperlinks, and ready updating. Without doubt, some
    users exploring first names will gravitate to such electronic resources. Nonetheless, for the con-
    venience I still attribute to hard-copy books and for the scholarly imprimatur of Hanks, Hodges,
    and Hardcastle together, I want A Dictionary of First Names on my reference shelf.

    Ursuline College Christine De Vinne

    A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska. By Doug Vandegraft. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press.
    2014. Pp. 172. $16.95. ISBN 978-1-935347-41-5.
    What makes a bar notorious might not necessarily be its name. Local gossip, a disquieting event,
    real or imagined, even a questionable location may be factors. Still, eyebrow-raising bar names

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