Name Sources to Avoid

#APPENDIXFAppendix F - Names Sources to Be Avoided in Documentation

(from the Administrative Handbook - http:heraldry.sca.org/laurel/admin.html#APPENDIX_F )

The books in this (non-comprehensive) list "should be regarded with deep suspicion, and avoided wherever possible" (Cover Letter, 8 June 85, p.4) for the purposes of documenting names in the SCA. This is not to say that these books are "bad" books for the purposes for which they were written; only that they are not good sources for the purpose of documenting names for registration in the SCA.

Name Books to be Avoided:

Arthur, William. Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names "[Arthur] is not a reliable source, being a rather old volume of the `what to name your baby' and `what does you family name mean' variety." (LoAR 30 Apr 89, p. 2)

Coghlan, Ronan. Irish First Names "Coghlan is extremely untrustworthy and should not be used." (Talan Gwynek, Millrind, Vol. VIII, Issue 2, p. 3)

Coghlan, Ronan, Ida Grehan and P.W. Joyce. Book of Irish Names "The Book of Irish Names is an abysmal SCA source, particularly its discussion of first names, which is a description of modern (20th century) Irish naming practices." (Ensign [Cateline de la Mor la souriete] LoC, 17 February 1996)

Dellquest, Augustus Wilfrid. These Names of Ours: A Book of Surnames "Please add Augustus Wilfrid Dellquest's These Names of Ours: A Book of Surnames... to the list of books that are not acceptable as documentation." (LoAR 16 Sep 1995, p. 10)

Dunkling, Leslie and William Gosling. The New American Dictionary of First Names "The focus of the book is on recent English and American usage, which reduces its usefulness to us..." (Cover Letter 29 Sep 85, p. 3)

Hanks, Patrick, and Hodges, Flavia. Dictionary of First Names "Very few of the entries have dates of any kind. There are many modern forms included in the entries. There are even, as there are in many general works of this kind, some errors, sometimes quite glaring." (LoAR Nov 1994, p. 20)

Hanks, Patrick, and Hodges, Flavia. Dictionary of Surnames "Very few of the entries have dates of any kind. There are many modern forms included in the entries. There are even, as there are in many general works of this kind, some errors, sometimes quite glaring." (LoAR Nov 1994, p. 20)

Kolatch, Alfred J. The Jonathan David Dictionary of First Names "Kolatch, ... is notorious for its lack of interest in drawing distinctions between traditional and modern names. (LoAR 25 Jan 87, p. 19). "As has been noted before, Kolatch is a modern baby-name book, and as a source of information is completely unreliable." (LoAR 18 May 86, p. 11) Alfred Kolatch: in general, all of his works should be avoided for SCA documentation, for the reasons above

Loughead, Flora Gaines. Dictionary of Given Names "[I]t is worthless for our purposes." (LoAR 16 Sep 95, p. 8). "[Loughead] is very unreliable." (LoAR 29 Apr 90, p.15)

Norman, Theresa. Names through the Ages "The name lists are utterly unreliable." (Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, SCAHRLDS)

Partridge, Eric. Name This Child: A Dictionary of Modern British and American Given or Christian Names "Virtually no dates are given for any names, which is problematic for our purposes..." (LoAR 31 Mar 90, p.3)

Smith, Elsdon/ New Dictionary of American Family Names "Elsdon Smith's New Dictionary of American Family Names [is] a most untrustworthy source." (LoAR Aug 92, p. 23)

Wells, Evelyn. A Treasury of Names (also published under the title What to Name the Baby) "Wells ... is not a very good source." (LoAR 26 Mar 89, p. 1)

Yonge, Charlotte. History of Christian Names "Yonge is no longer considered a trustworthy source. Her main strength is the breadth of languages she covered; for many of those languages (including French) she has been superseded by far more reliable works." (LoAR Sep 92, p. 6)

Anonymous. The New Age Baby Name Book In addition, most books with the word "baby" or "children" in the title or books of the "what to name your baby in [language]" type should be avoided. These generally give few dates, and the dates they give are often incorrect or misleading. Websites of this sort have the same weakness. In general terms, any website that gives no indications (or unclear indications) of its sources for the names or their dates is unlikely to be acceptable.

Sources to be Used with Caution (with comments)

Fucilla, Joseph G. Our Italian Surnames The focus of this books is on modern American usage, and as such rarely gives dates or other evidence of period usage. Emidio de Felice's dizionario dei cognomi italiani is a better choice.

Gruffudd, Heini. Welsh Names for Children This is a popular work done by someone who has done more scholarly work. Dates within the book are presumed to be accurate, though the forms may or may not be accurate for the date cited. Items without dates are presumed to be post-1650.

MacLysaght, Edward. The Surnames of Ireland. The focus of this book is on modern usage; in particular the spellings, both of English and Gaelic forms are modern. Patrick Woulfe's Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames is a better choice.

Morgan, Peadar. Ainmean Chloinne: Scottish Gaelic Names for Children This is a popular work done by someone who has done more scholarly work. Dates within the book are presumed to be accurate, though the forms may not be accurate for the date cited. Items without dates are presumed to be post-1650.

Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "Compleat Anachronist #66, A Welsh Miscellany" This contains lists that combine early legendary names with 16th century forms. As such, the dating of names should be confirmed with other sources. Her more specifically dated work is highly recommended. Woulfe, Patrick, Irish Names for Children and the given name section from Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames

These sources give no information about the dating of names; all information should be confirmed elsewhere. Note that the surname section of Sloinnte Gaedhal is Gall includes large numbers of dated forms and is a recommended source.