Review“Frankly, the world of cool names is so fascinating, you’ll probably read through all of them.” –Newsday on Cool Names”Unlike garden-variety baby-name guides…[Beyond Jennifer & Jason] lays it on the line.” –Entertainment Weekly
Irish baby-naming is a hip culture full of gorgeous, often littleknown names whose original bearers were kings and queens, mythological heroes and heroines, saints and fairies. So what are some of the coolest, most appealing Irish baby names?
Tags: Babies, Cool, Irish, Names
September 4th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Once again Rosenkrantz and Satran have come through with the best new baby naming book of the season. Their books are interesting and entertaining even if you do not have a baby to name. “Cool Irish Names for Babies” covers hundreds of possible Celtic names, from old standbys to far more exotic choices. Once again they include not only how to pronounce the name (invaluable with Irish names!) but where the name came from and who has used it in recent times. A wonderful guide to have around if anyone you know is looking for a name out of the top ten.
September 4th, 2009 at 10:18 am
I was disappointed in this book for three main reasons. First, it was not set up in a similar way to the authors’ Baby Names Now: From Classic to Cool–The Very Last Word on First Names, which is my favorite baby name book of all time. In Baby Names Now, Satran and Rosenkrantz go name by name, discussing the highs and lows of each name. Cool Irish Names for Babies is more of a list format where the names all get jumbled up together without much individual distinction. I think that if I saw a name in a list in Cool Irish Names, I would have to go to another source to find out more about it. That’s really not what I’m looking for. Second, this book is extremely similar in format and content to the authors’ Beyond Shannon and Sean: An Enlightened Guide to Irish Baby Naming. When I ordered Cool Irish Names, I thought that it would be a lot more distinct from Shannon and Sean, which I already own. Third, the research does not seem to be very thorough. This was evident to me in a few ways, but what bothered me most was that a handful of the names’ pronunciations were different from how I’ve heard Irish people say them. Satran and Rosenkrantz’s pronunciation may well have been valid alternatives (I’m not pretending to be the expert either), but I thought that the book should have listed multiple pronunciation options if they existed.
Long story short, I’ve returned Cool Irish Names and will stick to Baby Names Now and my other Irish baby names books.
September 4th, 2009 at 10:49 am
I have to confess that I have not bought this book but I just happened across it and read the product description and got so annoyed I had to write a review!! I am Irish and get very irritated at the names people mistakenly take to be Irish. Just from reading some of the names suggested, you will NEVER find an Irish person called Shannon, Erin, Alroy, Reed or Riley. The Shannon is Ireland’s principal river and Erin is the Gaelic for Ireland (though it’s actually spelt Éireann) and I don’t know where they got the others from. One important thing to note is that in the Irish (Gaelic) alphabet, there is no J.K,Q,V,W,X,Y or Z so any names with these letters are usually not properly Irish or sometimes they are an English translation. Apart from the other irritating habit of lumping Scottish and Irish names in with each other (they are NOT the same thing!!!) the list of unisex names given: Campbell, Darcy, Delaney, and Magee are surnames and NEVER first names in Ireland! There are many really nice Irish names (particularly pleasing are the ones that non-Irish people find difficult to pronounce) but this book does not appear to be the place to find them!