by David A. Woodbury, quality paperback, 192 pages, $8.50 at Amazon, Kindle edition $3
In the first book on the subject to do away with separate sections by gender, Babie Nayms is an irreverent look at how whitish Americans name their children in the 21st century.
Offering thousands of suggested first names for babies who don’t have strong ethnic or pseudo-ethnic roots, this volume includes unusual names, some truly unique names (meaning the first one ever), and ideas for creating a new name from scratch. You’ll find so many good names that you will want to have more babies.
Not at all a racially-charged book, you can take it at face value: It provides lists of suggestions for expectant parents who don’t have a solid ancestral, traditional, or religious heritage to draw from. It may also inspire anyone who wants to break from stodgy tradition.
And don’t forget the need to name pets, boats, estates, fictional characters, and so much more!
Preface (read it now) — How we name our babies
Part 1, A-Z (read it now) — Names that someone already bears [partial on line]
Part 2, A-Z – Contrived names
Part 3, A-Z – Surnames as given names
Part 4, A-Z – All lists combined
From the Preface:
In here you will find thousands of unusual names, some truly unique names (meaning the only one ever), and ideas for creating a new name from scratch. You’ll find so many good names that it will make you want to have a lot of babies.
This book is almost entirely facetious. If it weren’t, it would probably insult you, for I’ve pointed out some peculiar things about a lot of names, and you are probably related to someone I’ve poked fun at. But, although facetious, a pair of sharp realities also make this book as serious as a two-bit ax: It exposes the astonishing truth that hundreds of corny names are already on living people’s identification cards, and as a result of this irreverent little volume, other ethnically-challenged parents may be inspired to give such names to many more yet-to-be-born children. If it weren’t for those two misfortunes, it might be a harmless effort.
Was I having a baby when I wrote Babie Nayms? No! My kids were already old enough to be having children of their own. But someone needed to write the book. Since I was the first to recognize that, I took the assignment.
DamnYankee.com 