the unique baby name guide by the world's leading experts

Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana

BEYOND AVA & AIDEN IS BORN

Beyond Ava & Aiden hits the bookstores today, the first complete all-new edition of our landmark book, Beyond Jennifer & Jason, totally revised from beginning to end, with a brand new title and lots of brand new features.

Like what? To recapture the freshness, lightness, humor and user-friendliness of the original, we went back to our basic four-part structure of Style, Image, Sex and Tradition. Out went the Popularity section, since so much of that information is now accessible instantly online.

We’ve added fresh advice and approaches to the challenges of naming a daughter and naming a son, new categories like Green Names, Powerboys and Metrodudes, Baby Gods and Goddesses, and Mixed-Marriage Names–hundreds of the kind of subjective lists we invented, pointing out not only current trends, but where they come from and where they’re going.

Finding the right name for our baby was a major challenge. (The naming of The Baby Name Bible had been such a torturous process that we documented our struggle in an article in Publishers Weekly magazine.

We knew it was time to let go of our original title, since Jennifer and Jason are now the parents of the new generation of babies. But which alliterative pairing to choose? Among the many considered and rejected: Beyond Emily & Ethan, Beyond Addison & Aiden, Beyond Adam & Eva, Beyond Jayden & Jada, Beyond Miley & Max.

And then the latest popularity lists decided for us, with Ava and Aiden pulling ahead of all their trendy compatriots to become the Jennifer and Jason of today.

We can’t wait to hear what you think of the result. And to give you more of a taste of what’s in the new book, we’ll be posting excerpts every Friday through the summer, starting this week.

Tags: "Beyond Ava & Aiden", "Beyond Jennifer & JAson", baby name advice, baby names, green names, name trends, naming a daughter, naming a son, new baby name book, new baby name lists

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 11:45 pm and is filed under "Beyond Ava & Aiden", Uncategorized, boys' names, gender and names, girl names, girls' names, name ideas, name popularity, name trends, popular names, trendy baby names . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

24 Responses to “BEYOND AVA & AIDEN IS BORN”

Anna Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 3:17 am

Ooh I can’t wait till it’s here, any idea of when it will be avaliable in NZ?

LyndsayJenness Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 3:27 am

I preordered it on Amazon and it should be arriving today, can’t wait! Perfect title, too, definitely the best of your options!

Nephele Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 3:40 am

I’m eagerly looking forward to reading your latest book! And, of course, we’ll have several copies of the book available in my public library.

Cheers and congratulations, Linda and Pam!

– Nephele

Kim W Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 8:15 am

I’m hitting Borders on my lunch break!!

Stella Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 8:23 am

I’ll make this my next addition to my library and recommend it to all my baby-making friends!

linda Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 9:28 am

Thanks, everybody, for your enthusiastic response!! Can’t wait to hear what you think!

Jen @ blissfully caffeinated Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 10:48 am

The name is perfect. Congrats on the new book, can’t wait to pick it up!

melissaintlouis Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 am

I preordered this as well — can’t wait ’til it arrives!

Abby Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 11:56 am

Bravo! Congratulations – I can’t wait ’til my copy arrives.

Kim W Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 pm

I just picked mine up. It looks great! I’m going to be sneaking peeks at it under my desk all day!

Karen Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm

Hi ladies! Big fan of your first book – and I don’t even have kids! But for those of us who love to dream, it’s been fun reading. I’ve been keeping track of my favorite names since I bought B.J.& J., and it’s amazing how they evolve. I took a look at Beyond Ada & Aiden yesterday – it’s great! My only suggestion for future editions is to change how the columns of names are formatted. I’m used to both left and right columns on a page being one gender, and then a few spaces below both columns, the next gender begins. So I’m looking at the right-hand column, thinking that the names are the same gender as those of the left column, but they aren’t. Compare B.A. & A. to B.J. & J. and hopefully you will understand what I mean. Thanks for creating the baby naming revolution – it’s much more fun nowadays!

“Peaked in the 1960’s” – Karen

Nephele Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm

Linda and Pam, I want to tell you that I picked up _Beyond Ava & Aiden_ this afternoon at my local Borders book store, and the first thing I did was immediately turn to your book’s index to see the complete listing of names included within the many clever lists in your book.

As I scanned the pages, noting with pleasure the inclusion of more than one of my favorite names, my eyes stopped on the name “Thanatos.”

A-ha! I thought to myself — Linda and Pam have included a list of Gothic baby names in their latest book! My dark heart leapt with joy, as I then eagerly turned to page 46 to see what sort of list might include the name “Thanatos.” Well, it wasn’t a list of Gothic baby names — it was a list titled “Baby Gods & Goddesses.” Hahaha! Close enough!

Cheers on your newest book! I’m enjoying it immensely!

– Nephele

Boston Girl Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 pm

Oh cool, I’ll have to keep an eye out. Like Karen above, I don’t have kids but love to dream and have names picked out already (grin). Primarily I use name books to find names for new characters in my stories, which really gives me a chance to use all kinds of names.

Heard that Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s surrogate apparently gave birth to twin girls today. The source, Wonderwall, offered as name suggestions “Manolo” and “Cosmo”! Ewwww!! Let’s hope the new parents pick up a copy of B.A.&A. … there are bound to be far better ideas than those for those little girls!

Nephele Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 3:54 pm

Boston Girl, I echo your “ewwww!” on “Manolo” and “Cosmo” for twin girls!

I don’t know whether my own choices are much better, but of course I would suggest an anagram of “Sarah Jessica + Matt” for the twins’ names: Starsha + Majestica.

But, yah. Somebody pleeeeeze send a copy of Linda & Pam’s book to Sarah Jessica & Matt, ASAP!

– Nephele

linda Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm

Too late–the names are out–Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge–Hodge and Elwell family names on Jessica’s side.

olivegreen Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 4:29 pm

I’ve read it from cover to cover! I am particularly impressed with the Metrodudes list; it includes my own son’s name (Luca) as well as the names of almost all of my friends’ sons. You are spot on as far as why we chose his name–we felt is was “creatively masculine” and sophisticated yet approachable.

I also love the historical sections (Trends over time, African-American Traditions, the Kosher Curve)–fascinating. Thanks again for another fabulous book. I’m already making a list for Luca’s future sibling(s)!

Alison Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 4:51 pm

I’ve had mine since Saturday (I guess my local B&N stocked the shelf early–lucky me!) I like it, especially the “Green Names,” the expanded “Creative Names,” and the way the Sex section was redone. My only complaint is the over-emphasis on celebrities and what they name their children.

linda Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 4:58 pm

Well, for better or for worse, I’m afraid that at this point in time, and in this celebrity-obsessed culture, celebrities do have a considerable iand undeniable nfluence on baby names.

Elisabeth@YCCII Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 6:19 pm

Congratulations on the new addition!

linda Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 7:34 pm

And, again, the same to you!

pam Says:

June 23rd, 2009 at 10:10 pm

On the New Zealand question, I’m afraid this book is available in the U.S. market only, but we guess you can order it via American Amazon and have it shipped halfway round the world! thanks….

Allison Says:

June 24th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

Well my first sons name is Ayden so I guess I should pick this book up so we get more ideas on the next one lol…….sounds like a great read!

namefan Says:

June 24th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

Got my copy, and overall I think it’s a great book (better than the previous version). I especially like you being more balanced on the unisex name issue, although there is still some bias (they support names like Connor and Owen for girls, but still recommend against “older” unisex names like Kelly and Robin for boys [some of which I like as such and think would be nice on a boy these days]).

Mia Says:

October 8th, 2009 at 11:12 am

Funny, my sons name is Ayden and my daughters is Ava.