Where do baby name books get the definitions for the names they contain?

Ive looked at several and they all seem to be a scam to me to just make money ( it seems there are thousands of different baby name sites/books and self proclaiming idiots who know it all).



For instance you look up the name Audrey in some books and its of old english origin but if you go to an old english translator the word doesnt even exist in that translator... so where do the people who publish these baby names books get the meanings or definitions for the names?

Sounds to me that someone is just capitalizing off of everyone wanting a name that means something great... I mean seriously anyone i ask what their name means; they all have some great or mystical meaning that you really cant research yourself except through baby name books.

any input and ideas are appreciated.Where do baby name books get the definitions for the names they contain?
While some baby name sites are crap, in general the definitions are not a scam.



The reason that Audrey, for example, does not work is because the name has changed drastically over time, so there actually is no OE name "Audrey". Instead it comes from the much earlier word "脝脨EL脼RY脨", which is derived from the OE elements 忙冒el "noble" and 镁ry冒 "strength". So just typing "Audrey" into a translator would get you no results.



There is a big difference between the origin of a name and the form that is most recognizable to us today. Sounds, pronunciations, spellings and scripts of a language can change drastically over time.

Most names are made up of more than one word root; it only has a certain meaning when those elements are combined.

For example, the Greek name "Melanthe" comes from the Greek root mel- (black) and the root anth- (flower) and has a feminine e on the end.

Similarly, the name "Hadley" comes from an OE root had- (heather) and the root -ley (field, clearing), so Hadley means "field of Heather". There are other names that use the same -ley root, like Bradley, in which brad- comes from a root for "broad", so it means "broad field".



You don't need the baby name books to research the meanings of most names; you just have to know the languages from which the names derive (which takes much longer). Some names do have disputed histories, but most have a fairly evident etymology if you know the language.

As for names generally having a positive meaning, this is true but it makes sense. Names are all made up at one point or another, and most parents wouldn't make up a name that has roots meaning something negative. There are only a few names that have truly awful meanings; Kennedy, for example, means something along the lines of "ugly head".



Hope this helps.