For parents who have already narrowed down their search to a) an Irish appellation, and b) preferably something a little bit off the mainstream, Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz’ Cool Irish Names for Babies is just the thing.

The team behind Nameberry are also the authors of Cool Names for Babies and Beyond Shannon and Sean: An Enlightened Guide to Irish Baby Naming. 

The new publication is up-to-the-minute.  (Shannon and Sean was written in the 90s.)  Here’s what I love about their latest:

• The authors do a great job of listing names that are already popular.  Plenty of first time parents are disappointed when they realize they weren’t the first to think of calling their daughter Riley.  The “Pop Cool” section can inspire parents hoping for a tamer choice, or re-direct those looking for something truly adventurous.
• The duo remains unmatched at compiling surprising and unusual lists.  While characters from Irish literature might be expected, their list of Irish word names is eye-opening.  Fia, anyone?
• If you’re a newcomer to Celtic myth and legend (as I am), their listing of relevant figures is concise and thorough.
• Known for their Coolator – a chart showing how to make an ordinary name just a bit more daring – they’ve now created a Celticizer.  After all, Irish names have been Anglicized for generations.  If you’re honoring Grandma Molly, maybe Maille is an appealing choice.
• And – my very favorite bit – they’ve compiled a list of given names that are traditionally l bestowed in Irish families.  So even if you’re a little fuzzy about your ancestry, you can reclaim some heritage.  Last name O’Kane?  Call your daughter Aislinn.  MacArdle?  How ’bout Malachy for a son?

If there’s a shortcoming to the book, it is simply that it is, well, short.  You’ll probably want to read more about some of these names before you settle on them for good.

But it is a comprehensive introduction to the many flavors of Irish names – and a positively addictive read!

History is precisely where co-authors Michael Sherrod and Matthew Rayback discovered the raw material for their book.  The staff at Ancestry.com couldn’t help but notice that, in the not-so-distant past, Fairy was a common choice.  (Don’t believe me?  Check out the Social Security stats, and you’ll see that it peaked in 1905, when 32 baby girls were named Fairy – as many as Bridget, and more than Diana, Melissa or Annabel.)

Read on for some of my favorites – and some lessons gleaned from this diverting little book.

• Names that are stunningly odd are not a 21st century innovation.  Sherrod and Rayback gleaned these appellations from the archives:  Panties Moberg, Tackle Feigenbutz, Sinner Ogle and Chastity Chestnut.
• A perfectly normal name can become rather awkward if later shared with a fictional character.  Since census data was first collected in 1790, Oliver Twist might’ve been a grown man when Charles Dickens published his novel in 1838.  And Harry Potter, Veronica Mars and Bart Simpson probably went to their rewards ages before they became household names – though their tombstones probably raise a few eyebrows days.
• Even the most classic first name can go wrong when paired with certain surnames.  Emma, Helen and Amanda should have it made, right?  Sure, unless their full names are Emma Royd, Helen Back and Amanda Bury.  Yikes!  And don’t get us started on Ima Hogg, Ima Hooker and Wanna Funk.
• Those outlandish celeb names?  Not as staggeringly original as you might think.  Pilot (son of My Name is Earl‘s Jason Lee), Seven (Erykah Badu’s son) and, of course, Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow’s firstborn) all garnered plenty of press when bestowed.  But everyone of them has appeared in census records at least once before.

In some cases, the names might’ve been prompted by family tradition or simply saying “I Do” to James Royd or Samuel Bury.  (Though Panties defies the imagination.)  And while the Census records are reasonably accurate, they are also handwritten and subject to human error.  In an era before every adult carried a driver’s license and possibly a passport, names were a bit more fluid.  (My own grandmother was born Maria Rosa in New York City during the Great Depression – but died Rose Marie in New Jersey eighty-some years later.)

But overall, this is a lovely edition to any namenik’s library – and reassurance aplenty that naming your daughter Cordelia or son Archer isn’t really so different after all.

The rest of you, save your $11.95 – or stick with the Satran/Rosenkrantz book reviewed earlier. Best Exotic Baby Names may be thoroughly researched, but it is highly flawed.

Names are crammed onto every page. For nameniks, that might sound ideal, but the formatting is distracting, making the book tough to browse.

Still, if the content were appealing, I’d forgive a less-than-ideal layout. Instead, the information is surprisingly thin. For example, Odessa is listed as derived from the Greek, meaning odyssey, a voyage. Fair enough. But it’s also a stunning town in the Ukraine on the Black Sea. And Rita is listed only as a Sanskrit name meaning flow, cosmic order, truth – but not as a nickname derived from Margaret/Margarita and Sarah/Sarita, common names in Spanish and Italian.

Since the author insists that she has meticulously researched name origins and conferred with experts in foreign languages, it is disappointing that she fails to acknowledge the multiple origins of many names – and the impact that use has on their meanings. This is especially important information for non-native speakers. Is this appealing Jiamei (jee-ah-may) a common name in Mandarin? Or is Jiamei used in B-movies for the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold character, a sort of American Roxanne? Knowing that it means best beauty is great, but not enough to make an informed decision before bestowing it on your daughter.

It’s also funny to see names like Jada and Jadyn listed as variants of Jedidah, from the Hebrew for friend of God. Is it defensible? Sure. But I’ll bet most parents choosing those names are more likely to see them as an elaboration of Jade or Aiden.

And some of her information seems downright wrong. She lists Jessica as an Early American variant of Jessamine. But Jessica first appeared as a character in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, and is widely considered an elaboration of Jesca, a Biblical name.

Best Exotic Baby Names is primarily a list, and most of the names included are not just exotic, they’re unwieldy. While there are, indeed, a few gems, most of them can be found in other baby name guides. Here are ten random names, the first five for girls and second five for boys:

• Chrysogenia, a Greek name meaning golden child
• Ixmucane, a Mayan name meaning goddess of the dawn
• Astinemoon, from a Cree word for hope
• Lasairfiona, from the Gaelic for white fire
• Witena, an Old English name meaning he who knows

• Shimshon, a Sumerian name meaning sun
• Keizo, a Japanese name meaning blessing
• Drazhan, a Russian name meaning precious
• Njere, a Shona name meaning cleverness
• Zargun, a Persian name meaning golden-colored

It would take an intrepid parent, indeed, and a thick-skinned child to wear most of these eye-poppingly unusual names.

Flip through this one in the bookstore for a healthy dose of “who would really name their kid Gobez?” and then leave it on the shelf. It’s not a helpful guide.

Then came the baby naming world’s dynamic duo, and their book Beyond Jennifer & Jason changed everything. They re-defined cool and listed names by categories; gave advice on naming styles and suggested interesting alternatives to the overexposed names we all grew up with. Plus they called a number of important trends: place names, throwback names, noun names.

So if you’re seeking a baby name and a book to thumb through, check out their newest offering: Cool Names for Babies, Revised & Updated.

Rather not spend the $9.95? Just hang out a playground for the next decade or so, and I guarantee you, you’ll hear some of their picks.