Ulf's Heraldry Bookstore (Appendix F)

Heraldic Books from Appendix F of the Administrative Handbook of the College of Arms of the S.C.A.
(or the closest matches I could find)

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APPENDIX F
Names Sources to Be Avoided in Documentation
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.
In addition to the books named specifically on this list, others which should be avoided are any by Alfred J. Kolatch, and most books with the word "baby" or "children" in the title or books of the "what to name your baby in [language]" type. The only regular exceptions to this last are: Heini Gruffudd's Welsh Names for Children, which is a paperbound edition of his more scholarly work; items therein containing dates may be presumed to be accurate. Items therein without dates may be presumed to be modern for purposes of the SCA. Woulfe's Irish Names for Children is also a good name source. It includes much information concerning Saint's names (which can be assumed to be period) as well as `ancient' names (which may also be assumed to be period).

Author	Title	Published	Cover	Shipping	Estimated Price	Savings	Details
"[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)
William Arthur	An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names : With an Essay on Their Derivation and Import	1990	Hardcover	(Back Ordered)	$42.00
William Arthur	Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names	1979
"Coghlan is extremely untrustworthy and should not be used." (Talan Gwynek, Millrind, Vol. VIII, Issue 2, p. 3)
Ronan Coghlan	Irish First Names	1985	Paperback	(Special Order)	$7.95 + $1.35 special surcharge
"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)
Coghlan, Ronan, Ida Grehan and P.W. Joyce	The Book of Irish Names : First, Family and Place Names	1989	Paperback	Usually ships in 24 hours	$7.96	$1.99 (20%)
"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)
Dellquest, Augustus Wilfrid	These Names of Ours: A Book of Surnames (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell)	Not available
"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)
Leslie Dunkling, William Gosling	The New American Dictionary of First Names	1990
"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)
Patrick Hanks, Flavia Hodges	Dictionary of First Names	1990	Hardcover		$39.95
Patrick Hanks, Flavia Hodges	A Dictionary of Surnames	1989	Hardcover	Usually ships in 24 hours	$85.00		More....
"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 J. Kolatch	The Jonathan David dictionary of first names
Alfred J. Kolatch	The Jonathan David Dictionary of First Names	1980
"[I]t is worthless for our purposes." (LoAR 16 Sep 95, p. 8). "[Loughead] is very unreliable." (LoAR 29 Apr 90, p. 15)
Loughead, Flora Gaines	Dictionary of Given Names
"Virtually no dates are given for any names, which is problematic for our purposes...." (LoAR 31 Mar 90, p. 3)
Partridge, Eric	Name This Child: A Dictionary of Modern British and American Given or Christian Names	Not available
"Elsdon Smith's New Dictionary of American Family Names [is] a most untrustworthy source." (LoAR Aug 92, p. 23)
Elsdon C. Smith	New Dictionary of American Family Names	1988
Elsdon Coles Smith	New dictionary of American family names
"Wells ... is not a very good source." (LoAR 26 Mar 89, p. 1)
Evelyn Wells	What to Name the Baby	1953
Evelyn Wells	What to Name the Baby	1980
"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 superceded by by far more reliable works." (LoAR Sep 92, p. 6)
Charlotte Mary Yonge	History of Christian Names	1966
Charlotte Mary Yonge	History of Christian names
Sue Browder	The New Age Baby Name Book	1996	Mass Market Paperback	Ships in 2-3 days	$4.79	$1.20 (20%)	More....
	The New Age Baby Name Book			Usually ships in 24 hours		$1.59 (20%)	More....
	The New Age Baby Name Book: 3rd Edition: Completely Revised	1998	Paperback	(Not Yet Published -- On Order)	$7.96	$1.99 (20%)

Remember that these references are made concerning MEDIEVAL heraldry as used in the Society for Creative Anachronism, and are not meant to be taken as an absolute of heraldic knowledge (though we try). Likewise, these links are being provided by me, Ulf Gunnarsson, and not the College of Arms of the S.C.A.

So if your arms don't pass because you used one of these books, don't blame them, blame me.

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