A historical account of the origins and use of over 800 given names.

This Dictionary is part of the Oxford Reference Collection: using sustainable print-on-demand technology to make the acclaimed backlist of the Oxford Reference programme perennially available in hardback format. The fascinating and informative Dictionary of First Names covers over 6,000 names in common use in English, including the very newest names as well as traditional names. From Alice to Zanna and Adam to Zola this book will answer all your questions: it will tell you the age, origin, and meaning of the name, as well as how it has fared in terms of popularity, and who the famous fictional or historical bearers for the name have been. It covers alternative spellings, short forms and pet forms, and masculine and feminine forms, as well as help with pronunciation. The book includes extensive appendices covering names from languages including Scottish, Irish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, and Chinese names. Tables of the most popular names by year and by region are also included. From the traditional to the rare and unconventional, this book will tell you everything you need to know about names.

Places all the more common names in their historical and linguistic context, discussing each name's etymology and usage through history.

Where did your surname come from? Do you know how many people in the United States share it? What does it tell you about your lineage?From the editor of the highly acclaimed Dictionary of Surnames comes the most extensive compilation of surnames in America. The result of 10 years of research and 30 consulting editors, this massive undertaking documents 70,000 surnames of Americans across the country. A reference source like no other, it surveys each surname giving its meaning, nationality, alternate spellings, common forenames associated with it, and the frequency of each surname and forename.The Dictionary of American Family Names is a fascinating journey throughout the multicultural United States, offering a detailed look at the meaning and frequency of surnames throughout the country. For students studying family genealogy, others interested in finding out more about their own lineage, or lexicographers, the Dictionary is an ideal place to begin research.

A modified, one-volume edition of Mencken's classic analysis of American English

What accounts for our tastes? Why and how do they change over time? Stanley Lieberson analyzes children's first names to develop an original theory of fashion. He disputes the commonly-held notion that tastes in names (and other fashions) simply reflect societal shifts.

The American Language is a multi-volume study of how the English language is spoken in the United States. The book is Menken's research of the differences between English and American language. Mencken wanted to defend "Americanisms" against a steady stream of English critics, who usually isolated Americanisms as borderline "perversions" of the "mother tongue". The book discusses the beginnings of "American" variations from "English", the spread of these variations, American names and slang. According to Mencken, American English was more colorful, vivid, and creative than its British counterpart. The book concludes with the observation in the norms of use of the proper names in America, including surnames, given names, geographical names, Menken's analysis on the American slang, and forecast on the further language development.

Presents over 3,000 bibliographic entries on the history and lore of Jewish family names and given names in all parts of the world from Biblical times to the present day. This work replaces the compiler's out-of-print JEWISH AND HEBREW ONOMASTICS: A BIBLIOGRAPHY (1977)

The DEFINITIVE EDITION OF The American Language was published in 1936. Since then it has been recognized as a classic. It is that rarest of literary accomplishments—a book that is authoritative and scientific and is at the same time very diverting reading. But after 1936 HLM continued to gather new materials diligently. In 1945 those which related to the first six chapters of The American Language were published as Supplement I; the present volume contains those new materials which relate to the other chapters. The ground thus covered in Supplement II is as follows: 1. American Pronunciation. Its history. Its divergence from English usage. The regional and racial dialects. 2. American Spelling. The influence of Noah Webster upon it. Its characters today. The simplified spelling movement. The treatment of loan words. Punctuation, capitalization, and abbreviation. 3. The Common Speech. Outlines of its grammar. Its verbs, pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. The double negative. Other peculiarities. 4. Proper Names in America. Surnames. Given-names. Place-names. Other names. 5. American Slang. Its origin and history. The argot of various racial and occupational groups. Although the text of Supplement II is related to that of The American Language, it is an independent work that may be read profitably by persons who do not know either The American Language or Supplement I.