The Book of Girls' Names is an alphabetically arranged dictionary of beautiful, unusual, and long-honored names.  Expectant parents who care about finding exactly the right name for their daughter will pore over it for many pleasant hours.  (If it's a boy, they can consult The Book of Boys' Names.)  More than 1400 names are described with their fascinating histories: ancient origins, unexpected meanings, and the most famous women who have borne them through the ages.  Thirteen hundred more names are included in a Supplementary Index with their meanings and original language.

But even the most casual reader will be charmed with this book for its amusing—sometimes startling—sidelights on names rare and familiar.  For example, many a Rose who has delighted in this popular flower name may be surprised to discover that the first Rose was not named for a flower at all, but for a horse!  To the ancient Germanic tribes that invaded England the hros was sacred.  As for Ingrid, the name celebrates the Norse god Ing's ride—on a golden-bristled boar.

Many girls bear the names of goddesses and nymphs—Diana, Cynthia, Daphne, Irene, Juno, Iris.  But few of the thousands named for St. Bridget of Ireland know that some of the miracles popularly attributed to the beloved Saint were earlier ascribed to Brighid, daughter of an ancient Celtic sun god.  Many names assume varied, sometimes unrecognizable, forms: Zoe is the Greek form of the Hebrew Hawwah or Eve; Dorothea and Theodora are made of the same two Greek words with the happy meaning of "gift of God."  Camilla harks back to Etruscan religious ceremonials: it means "attendant at a sacrifice."

Such are only a few of the colorful, little-known facts, patiently compiled and authenticated, that abound in The Book of Girls' Names.  An added convenience is a Calendar of Saints that lists for almost every day of the year two or three saints whose feasts are properly celebrated on that day.  Christian saints have been for nearly two thousand years a chief source of boys' and girls' names throughout the Western world.  The Calendar is useful not only as an inspiration in naming children, but in suggesting possible alternate days for observing birthdays that fall at inconvenient times.

From the dust jacket