dictionary of names

[ dik-shuh-ner-ee uhv neymz ]

noun

1. a dictionary of given names that indicates whether a name is usually associated with masculine or feminine gender identity, or whether it is common across genders, and that often includes origins as well as meanings; for example, as by indicating that Evangeline, a name usually given to girls, meaning “good news,” comes from Greek. Used primarily as an aid in selecting a name for a baby, dictionaries of names may also include lists of famous people who have shared a name and information about its current popularity ranking.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dictionary of names¹

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

Color, and the ability to describe color in words, is so important that this country’s National Bureau of Standards published a 196-page book called “Color: Universal Language and Dictionary of Names.”

From Seattle Times

He was one of the revisers of the "Century Dictionary of Names," and wrote the article on the Kabbalah in "Charles Warner's Cyclop�dia of the World's Best Literature."

From Project Gutenberg

What memory brings to us, however, may not always be the first syllable of a word or name, though we are prone to think it must be, and we may go looking for it in the dictionary of names only to discover after a time that we are many letters away from its beginning.

From Project Gutenberg

I hunted through an Indian Dictionary of names but couldn’t find a thing like it,” asked Miss Miller, laughingly.

From Project Gutenberg

A comprehensive guide to the etymology of Scandinavian names, plus a dictionary of names from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland, plus handy chapters on Scandinavian immigration patterns in the U.S.,

From Seattle Times