Brilliant Baby Name Books

Choosing your child's name can be a really difficult decision. Traditional or unusual? Go with a family name or strike out with your own creation?

Here are some books to help you make your choice.

The best selling baby name book of 2014 was, perhaps inevitably, Best Baby Names for 2014 by Siobhan Thomas. With 8000 baby names to choose from there will be something for everyone here, with helpful inspiration lists and ideas form the latest trends in names to the classics.

Irish names are ever-popular, even to people with no celtic heritage, so Cool Irish Names for Babies by Pamela Satran and Linda Rozencrantz is a mine of ideas, such as Names that are Classic But Not Boring, Place Names, Names from Literature, Spiritual Names and Names of Irish Heroes and Heroines this is every new parent’s one-stop guide to selecting the coolest Irish name for their baby.

If you are looking for a serious refernce book on names look no further than The Penguin Dictionary of First Names . As you would expect from a Penguin reference work, this book gives you the historical background of names from all over the English-speaking world as well as referencing the mythology and meaning of the names we are given.

The Baby Name Wizard is described as 'A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby'. It uses computor generated models to help you pinpoint the right name for your child, apparently, focussing on the style and cultural assocations of names rather than their meaning.

If you are looking for a name for your child to really live up to, try Bring Back Beatrice: 1,108 Baby Names with Meaning, Character, and a Little Bit of Attitude. Names with class, history and meaning are listed here along with the qualities that the name could endow your child with.

Why do celebrities choose such extraordinary names for their offspring? Apple? Moonunit?!! You Called Me What? is more of a 'what not to call your baby' book, with over 500 barmy names with spoof meanings, along with stories of alternatively named children who chose to rebel against their names and lead more normal lives.

The almost ubiquitous For Dummies range offers Baby Names For Dummies by Margaret Rose. A baby name book with 5,000 names for boys and girls. With themed lists from Biblical, medieval, and Shakespearean names to musical and international names there are also lists of today's most popular names and the favorite names of previous decades.

Prefer an app to an old-fashioned book? 50,000 Baby Names Free does just what it says on the tin. For Android, PC or Kindle Fire.

About the Author: Jacqui O'Brien is the Editor of eParenting.