Expectant parents poring over baby name books—usually tomes as large and as interesting as phone books—are looking for that special name with special meaning, a name with a legacy, a name for the ages. What better place for book-loving parents to look for the right name than in literature?Elegantly written, easy to use, and delightful to read, The Penguin Classic Baby Name Bookis divided into sections of boys’ and girls’ names. Entries include information on origin, meaning, variations, and, most important, literary namesakes. Throughout the book are sidebars with mini essays about literary characters and naming trends, as well as quotations from the books themselves. From The Penguin Classic Baby Name Book: Chloe(Greek, young green shoot”) A traditional name in pastoral poetry. The source is Longus’s fourth-century poem Daphnis and Chloe,” which concerns the romance between the offspring of a goatherd and a shepherd. In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Aunt Chloe is the wife of Uncle Tom. A wonderful cook, warm and loving, she is saving money to buy his freedom. When he dies, she is heartbroken.

Carol McD. Wallace is the author of several bestselling baby name books, as well as other books, including a guide to manners for children. She is a graduate of Princeton where she majored in comparative literature.