The Penguin Classic Baby Name Book is probably my favorite baby name book. Not that we would actually use many of the names that are found in it, but it is fun to peruse and think about the works of classic literature from which the names were culled.

For instance, I can’t see myself naming Child #5 Caspar. When I think Caspar I think “friendly ghost.” Not exactly the first impression I want Child #5 to make. There just aren’t that many people who are going to think, “Caspar, yes, he was the stalwart American courtier of Isabel Archer in Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady.” I’m afraid that Child #5 would never forgive Susan and me if he was stuck with the nickname Boo.

Or, Giocondo. Doesn’t that sound more like a description of Florida real estate than a baby’s name? [Read more…]