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The Baby Name Wizard, Revised 4th Edition: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby
The Baby Name Wizard, Revised 4th A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby. Professionally spiraled and resold by a third party. This spiraled book is not necessarily affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by the publisher, distributor, or author.
544 pages, Spiral-bound
First published February 8, 2005
226 people are currently reading
377 people want to read
About the author
Laura Wattenberg
1 book2 followersLaura Wattenberg is a name expert, entrepreneur, and author of The Baby Name Wizard. She is known for deriving cultural insights from scientific analysis of name usage, as well as creating innovative interactive tools to communicate these insights. Wattenberg also co-founded the name generating website Nymbler with Icosystem. Wattenberg is frequently quoted in the media on name-related topics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
January 8, 2020
I’d call this brilliant book The Baby Name Bible. It was just the coolest little book of sorcery ever to land in my hands!
I didn’t come across it until it was time to name my second. Of course I already had a looooong list of names but I immediately flipped to my first child’s name and was amazed to find how acurate the list of suggested sibling names was simply based on your preferences by a name you already like.
If you already have a few children, test it out. It’s sorcery. Haha.
I highly recommend this book for all new parents looking to or struggling with naming a new person you’re bringing into the world!
July 2013
September 2016
I didn’t come across it until it was time to name my second. Of course I already had a looooong list of names but I immediately flipped to my first child’s name and was amazed to find how acurate the list of suggested sibling names was simply based on your preferences by a name you already like.
If you already have a few children, test it out. It’s sorcery. Haha.
I highly recommend this book for all new parents looking to or struggling with naming a new person you’re bringing into the world!
July 2013
September 2016
July 22, 2007
I *loved* this book! It doesn't take up pages with 5 gazillion spelling variations of names (if you wanted to make up a new spelling, you could pretty much take it on as your own personal project, after all). Instead, it outlines the "personality" of a name as perceived by the author, graphs of the name's popularity in the past century, sister/brother names that people often link together (which are often spot on, I think), and lists in the back of types of names (Amy is a Surfer Sixties name; some of my favorites were the Porch Rockers, the old-fashioned ones like Evelyn, Eva, Harriet, etc.). LOVED it.
March 1, 2009
This book takes a unique and almost scientific approach to names. It was really interesting! I enjoyed it a lot. It groups names into different categories and then uses these categories to essentially help you find your name style. Also if you find a name that you like, it will suggest 5 boys names that are similar in style and 5 girls names that are similar in style to it. It was fun. It doesn't have a billion names in it - but it was helpful and creative and a different take on naming your baby than I have seen in other "baby name" books. I recommend it.
July 3, 2011
In The Baby Name Wizard, Laura Wattenberg uses computer modelling, historical/social research and good old-fashioned critical thinking to analyze baby naming trends and sort names into ‘types’. Evelyn is ‘antique’; Finn is ‘brisk and breezy’; Hayden is ‘androgynous’.
Wattenberg’s advice on naming is thoughtful and perceptive; she doesn’t disparage any names, but she does give food for thought. For parents-to-be, the main draw is the ability to assess the popularity of your favoured name (whadaya mean, my rare name choice is actually a rising star?), and the ability to find names that are “sorta like X, but not so well-known”.
However, I don’t use this book as a parenting reference; I use it as a writing tool.
I was sorting through some old notebooks recently and I found in one of them pages and pages of names. I must have compiled this list of names when I was about 12. It’s not because I was baby-crazy or desperate to be on ‘16 and Pregnant’. I was just a budding writer with lots of characters to name.
Truth: writers spend way more time obsessing over baby names than expectant parents, because parents might have 2, 3, 4 kids, but writers ‘Christen’ dozens of babies every year. So don’t let the adorable baby on the cover put you off; this is an indispensible writing tool.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve started a new writing project, begun to sketch out my characters and then got stuck on finding a name. The problem isn’t solved by picking up a name dictionary and opening it on a random page. If my heroine is sharp and sarcastic, I can’t call her ‘Lucy’. This is the sort of situation where Wizard becomes indispensible. If you know you want a brisk, one-syllable name, just look up that ‘type’ and find a whole selection to choose from.
Wizard is also great for avoiding anachronisms, because it includes charts of each name’s rising/falling popularity. If your hero was born in 1980, he shouldn’t be called ‘Braeden’. That’s an obvious example, but a lot of names we assume were popular during a certain time period actually weren’t.
The ‘brother/sister’ suggestions that come with each name are also incredibly useful – although not necessarily for brothers and sisters. If you’re going to spend 100,000 words writing about best friends or lovers, it’s helpful that their names “go together”. Who wants to end up writing “Amethyst and Jack walked down the street… Amethyst and Jack went to the shops… Amethyst and Jack were in big trouble”?
You can access a lot of Wizard’s features (popularity charts, for example) from its accompanying website, but the book’s more in-depth and it’s a handy reference to have within easy reach when you’re writing.
Wattenberg’s advice on naming is thoughtful and perceptive; she doesn’t disparage any names, but she does give food for thought. For parents-to-be, the main draw is the ability to assess the popularity of your favoured name (whadaya mean, my rare name choice is actually a rising star?), and the ability to find names that are “sorta like X, but not so well-known”.
However, I don’t use this book as a parenting reference; I use it as a writing tool.
I was sorting through some old notebooks recently and I found in one of them pages and pages of names. I must have compiled this list of names when I was about 12. It’s not because I was baby-crazy or desperate to be on ‘16 and Pregnant’. I was just a budding writer with lots of characters to name.
Truth: writers spend way more time obsessing over baby names than expectant parents, because parents might have 2, 3, 4 kids, but writers ‘Christen’ dozens of babies every year. So don’t let the adorable baby on the cover put you off; this is an indispensible writing tool.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve started a new writing project, begun to sketch out my characters and then got stuck on finding a name. The problem isn’t solved by picking up a name dictionary and opening it on a random page. If my heroine is sharp and sarcastic, I can’t call her ‘Lucy’. This is the sort of situation where Wizard becomes indispensible. If you know you want a brisk, one-syllable name, just look up that ‘type’ and find a whole selection to choose from.
Wizard is also great for avoiding anachronisms, because it includes charts of each name’s rising/falling popularity. If your hero was born in 1980, he shouldn’t be called ‘Braeden’. That’s an obvious example, but a lot of names we assume were popular during a certain time period actually weren’t.
The ‘brother/sister’ suggestions that come with each name are also incredibly useful – although not necessarily for brothers and sisters. If you’re going to spend 100,000 words writing about best friends or lovers, it’s helpful that their names “go together”. Who wants to end up writing “Amethyst and Jack walked down the street… Amethyst and Jack went to the shops… Amethyst and Jack were in big trouble”?
You can access a lot of Wizard’s features (popularity charts, for example) from its accompanying website, but the book’s more in-depth and it’s a handy reference to have within easy reach when you’re writing.
December 8, 2016
I loved using this book while my husband and I chose names for our babies. I also loaned this book out to numerous friends and they have all loved it too, in fact, some have asked to borrow it more than once:)
August 9, 2023
Look no further. This book is all you need to write down a list of names that you like. It’s organized really smart by theme. So there’s a section of Arabic or Celtic names, short names, why not names, saint names you name it haha.
August 7, 2008
I have probably read and pondered every name in this book and I still have not settled on a name for my yet-to-be-born baby boy. It's not the book's fault, but I think the book has sort of made the job of naming feel more complex than it has to be. Or maybe it is just the way I'm looking at things. If I stumble across a name I like, like "Miles" for example, then I read the description of "Miles": "Miles is a terrific choice if you're drawn to "elegant gentleman" names." (which I am) "It sounds strong, smooth and unflappabable." (great, great and pretty good, except maybe in the toddler years) "In fact this name has been quietly cool for a thousand years, never too common but never disappearing. In the U.S. the name is associated with the Mayflower pilgram Miles Standish, which adds a fashionable antique flavor." So, great, sounds like a winner to me. But then I look at the chart that depicts the name's popularity over the years. It looks like sort of a valley and then a very very steep mountain where it climbs sharply over the past few years to the number #231 spot. It looks like I'm not alone in my discovery of this great name. It looks like I'm just part of a big, faceless trend of pregnant people who all have the same ideas about things and the same vision of who their son is going to be. And maybe this is true. I realize Miles is not the most unique name on the planet. I even know of a few kids named Miles. But I hate the reminder that I am sort of a cliche, that my choices are not really my own, but a result of all these other cultural things that make up a big part of my identity. I also feel this way when I get really excited about a new drink at Starbucks.
So I don't know...this book has been really fun to read, but it has also sort of messed with my head and kind of ruined perfectly good names for me. I would recommend this book as a fun way to discover new names, but I would also advise all of those in charge of naming other human beings to listen to your heart and not a book when it comes to choosing a name.
So I don't know...this book has been really fun to read, but it has also sort of messed with my head and kind of ruined perfectly good names for me. I would recommend this book as a fun way to discover new names, but I would also advise all of those in charge of naming other human beings to listen to your heart and not a book when it comes to choosing a name.
July 20, 2013
As great as its predecessor (the second edition), but with new and updated information. I like some of the new tools/graphics as well, like the map showing naming trends (it only talks about the USA here, but it's still interesting). Overall, this is the best baby naming book series I've come across! I love how it lists common sister/brother names along with each entry, shows a popularity graph over the past century+, and gives each name a 'style,' so you can see what you like and refer to the section on that style later in the book. Very helpful!!
August 24, 2020
Thoutful, but way too American,
Nice book with lots of advice, but its totally centered around American culture. If you are from a non English speaking country, like me, you will struggle to make sense of many of the recommendations.
Nice book with lots of advice, but its totally centered around American culture. If you are from a non English speaking country, like me, you will struggle to make sense of many of the recommendations.
December 14, 2020
This name book is remarkable in how it groups names into families. A lot of the names we like show up in families. It’s super cool. I love looking at names.
January 10, 2010
This was the first naming book I found to be very readable; my husband even picked it up for about fourminutes. (While I stared in shock with my mouth hanging open for an additional thirty seconds after he put it down.)
The first twenty pages were written by Captin Obvious with advice such as, "don't pick first/last names which rhyme." As if you would do that unknowingly... But there were some examples worth a snicker when considering variations of a name; Benjamin Dover will inevitably be called Ben Dover - a tireless joke for his future buddies.
The "Name Snapshots" were great. Beside each name, you could see common sibling names which were creepily acurate. These often lead to new favorites or mentioned names which were already favorites. There was also a line graph showing the name's popularity over the past century. (i.e. my parents' breaking the top 100 of the 60's then nearly disapearing in the 70's.) The other cool thing about the graphs was recognizing oncoming trends. Maybe my favorite names aren't very popular today, but the graphs show some of them increasing quickly.
The lists of "style families" were another good resource. You could look for names by geography, history, religion with lists such as ladies and gentlemen, brisk and breezy, celtic, bell tones, jewish, last names first, porch sitters, mythological, and even one called "why not?". Hubby vetoed my favorites from that list, Pinkie and Thor. (He said we're talking a person, not a dog.)
Still, I think the best thing you can do when picking a name is keep a fairly long list in a place where you'll see it every day. I've found some of my long-time favorites have lost their appeal just from seeing them daily and others have grown on me tremendously. Now I just need a book on how to get hubby liking something more interesting than John, Bob, Ann or Mary.
The first twenty pages were written by Captin Obvious with advice such as, "don't pick first/last names which rhyme." As if you would do that unknowingly... But there were some examples worth a snicker when considering variations of a name; Benjamin Dover will inevitably be called Ben Dover - a tireless joke for his future buddies.
The "Name Snapshots" were great. Beside each name, you could see common sibling names which were creepily acurate. These often lead to new favorites or mentioned names which were already favorites. There was also a line graph showing the name's popularity over the past century. (i.e. my parents' breaking the top 100 of the 60's then nearly disapearing in the 70's.) The other cool thing about the graphs was recognizing oncoming trends. Maybe my favorite names aren't very popular today, but the graphs show some of them increasing quickly.
The lists of "style families" were another good resource. You could look for names by geography, history, religion with lists such as ladies and gentlemen, brisk and breezy, celtic, bell tones, jewish, last names first, porch sitters, mythological, and even one called "why not?". Hubby vetoed my favorites from that list, Pinkie and Thor. (He said we're talking a person, not a dog.)
Still, I think the best thing you can do when picking a name is keep a fairly long list in a place where you'll see it every day. I've found some of my long-time favorites have lost their appeal just from seeing them daily and others have grown on me tremendously. Now I just need a book on how to get hubby liking something more interesting than John, Bob, Ann or Mary.
November 24, 2012
This is the best baby name book I've ever come across, not that I found my children's names in here (in fact, I've never seen either of my children's names in ANY baby name book). BUT it's a very effective system given that for today's parents, the popularity of a name is often just as much a consideration as its meaning or origin. Each main entry name is accompanied by a graph charting that name's popularity since it's emergence. Very useful. The other very effective feature is the fact that the names have been categorised into thematic groups, so if you like the sounds of "Zoe" but you wouldn't quite want to call your child that, you just go to the categories that include Zoe and you find many other names that you are very likely to like. It's surprising, but it's actually very accurate. The only disadvantage to this book is it's very American (which I suppose is not a disadvantage if you're American). So it might list a name of French origin as being very uncommon, when in fact it's currently as common as John or Mary in France. I suppose there had to be a limitation somewhere.
December 31, 2013
Naming a baby is hard. This book was fun, because it looks at the various cultural/regional differences in the US (northeastern names very different from southern, for example) and it tells you what celebrity/popular character/politician etc that the name you pick out might be connected to. Veronica was a close choice for us, and both Veronica Mars (yes!) and Veronica Lake were mentioned.
Our choices were pretty solid before we picked this up, but it was fun to browse and see what our name(s) mean.
Our choices were pretty solid before we picked this up, but it was fun to browse and see what our name(s) mean.
June 25, 2009
The author's descriptions of names are quick and witty giving the reader an idea of how his/her chosen name might sound to others. She also provides popularity year and ratings, the style of the name (ie charms and grace, solid citizen, Biblical, surfer sixties...) , possible nicknames, and brother/sister names (if you like this one, you'll like these). It's on my "must" list every time I'm expecting.
April 18, 2009
Another good resource. Yes, this is the third baby naming book I've read. Got a long list and still no clear winner. Maybe he'll just have to be No Name Jenson. Do they have a hospital in No Name, Colorado? You've seen the stop along the freeway on the way to Utah. That should be where they banish would-be parents who can't think of names for their children.
October 10, 2013
Jackpot.
Best baby name book I've encountered. I especially like the sibling suggestions, which groups names with a similar feel.
The lists at the back of the book are fun too. I found some great names under Exotic Tradionals, Saints, Why Not?, Androgynous, and Mythological.
Overall there seems to be a focus on unique and unusual names which is important to me.
Best baby name book I've encountered. I especially like the sibling suggestions, which groups names with a similar feel.
The lists at the back of the book are fun too. I found some great names under Exotic Tradionals, Saints, Why Not?, Androgynous, and Mythological.
Overall there seems to be a focus on unique and unusual names which is important to me.
January 7, 2018
Not much variety in this set of names. The author's assumed audience is white cisgender women who are highly invested in the gender binary. Going cover to cover I did manage to find a couple of dozen names that my partner didn't immediately reject.
March 26, 2025
Really well laid out, lots of name ideas. We did get our baby's name from this book, lol.
July 7, 2025
I really loved The Baby Name Wizard. It made naming feel less overwhelming and actually kind of fun. The way it explains the personality of names and even gives sibling suggestions was super helpful. It got me thinking beyond just popular lists and more about what a name feels like.
While I was going through it, I started playing with different name combos for fun and ended up using https://namecombiner.org. It lets you mix two names to see creative mashups, which actually helped us come up with a few fresh ideas we hadn’t seen anywhere else. It paired really nicely with everything the book teaches.
While I was going through it, I started playing with different name combos for fun and ended up using https://namecombiner.org. It lets you mix two names to see creative mashups, which actually helped us come up with a few fresh ideas we hadn’t seen anywhere else. It paired really nicely with everything the book teaches.
June 11, 2018
Love the popularity stats, brother/sister trends, and the styles index at the back.... HUGE missing information: Origin/History and meanings.
Only a few names had that listed.
I personally would be more interested in the origin and meaning of my possible child’s name then what baseball or movie star currently has it; Couldn’t care less about that.
So I have to go online to now look up the ethnic/ historical origin and meanings of several names that I liked from this book. Seems like a huge flaw to me...
Only a few names had that listed.
I personally would be more interested in the origin and meaning of my possible child’s name then what baseball or movie star currently has it; Couldn’t care less about that.
So I have to go online to now look up the ethnic/ historical origin and meanings of several names that I liked from this book. Seems like a huge flaw to me...
February 20, 2025
What a fun way to explore names by seeing the popularity trends through time periods, seeing suggestions of names for siblings, and the groupings of names by themes. I liked the focus on being thoughtful of what a name may remind people of from pop culture or history, to help parents be more informed of how their child’s chosen name can come across. The only things I could see as future improvements to the book would be listing the meanings of names and having more names from diverse backgrounds reflective of the U.S. population (if that’s the intended audience).
January 11, 2023
So I didn’t read literally every description of every name, but I did read all the explanations and written paragraphs (and there were a lot!) so I’m counting it as a book read.
I think it is pretty helpful with its discussion of the impact of last name and the helpful groupings of names by style. It helped me see what genres of names I like or (really) don’t like. I also like that the sections for each name tell you about notable figures people will think of when they hear the name.
I think it is pretty helpful with its discussion of the impact of last name and the helpful groupings of names by style. It helped me see what genres of names I like or (really) don’t like. I also like that the sections for each name tell you about notable figures people will think of when they hear the name.
July 21, 2019
I bought this years ago and finally got to put it to use. I love how it has name types organized - when I found names I liked, I was able to expand my search by looking at similar types of names. Much better than reading an alphabetical list!
October 23, 2021
This is an especially good baby name book for those planning more than one child. When you look up a name, it gives you other names with a similar feel. It also gives you the popularity of the name over the past century -- important for those wanting to avoid overused names.
November 3, 2021
A fresh take on baby names with some interesting lists of names and good things to consider. I found this helpful for coming up with names I like when I was struggling to find any using other resources.
September 26, 2024
Maybe not the most comprehensive of name books, but I LOVE that it gives you the "vibes". Like all culture-based books my edition is a little out of date, but I really appreciate the thoroughness and it is still useful! I especially love the suggestions for sibling names.
February 28, 2018
Favorite baby name book
May 14, 2018
Didnt help my name search.
August 10, 2019
Pg 213
September 14, 2019
Absolutely pointless, since it doesnt concretely list the origin or meaning of nearly any of the names. I do t really need a paragraph blurb insisting that the name is, in fact, a real name and no information whatsoever.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews