The Best Baby Name Book [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION My cousin Filippo grows wine in Tuscany. This Italian branch of the family has produced beautiful girls for generations. So, when he began his family with a daughter, Filippo played the first move of his game. He called her Uliva. Vanozza followed, and then Alessandra arrived. The first letters of his daughters' names spelt Uva, the Italian for grape and highly appropriate to Filippo's job. But grand schemes like that can go wrong. What if Alessandra had arrived as twins? Of if Alessandro had come to spoil the female set? Or if Vanozza was the last born? Certainly, for a chartered accountant to embark upon a similar project to make the word 'mathematics' might be rather ambitious. There is usually a good reason for parents choosing a particular name-a kindly aunt, a family tradition, a maiden name, a much-loved royal, a local hero, or simply a name that sounds very beautiful. But, perhaps unbeknown to parents, the biggest influence on choice is the prevailing fashion. Kings and queens, soldiers and saints, heroes of fiction and fact, have all brought names into fashion. Anne, Elizabeth, Henry, William, and the names of other British royals have, perhaps, given children a touch of class, and also displayed their parents' loyalty. Christian missionaries spread stories of the Apostles, disciples and martyrs and soon the enduring popularity of Peter, John and Andrew began. Later, major cults developed around some saints. When pious parents chose the name Francis for their son, they were no doubt remembering the good works of Giovanni Bernardone, known as St Francis of Assisi, and not the derogatory meaning of his