For many more names, please Return to Edgar's Main Page.
What are Edgar's Name Pages?
Edgar's Name Pages is an effort to consolidate and share the large collection of naming information (mostly on first names and mostly from the United States) that I have collected over the years. It includes etymology (what the name means), history (when and/or why the name became popular), alternates (spellings, nicknames, surnames), famous bearers (famous people who share that particular name) and popularity (statistics).
Edgar's Name Pages are not (exactly) designed to help one choose a baby name. There are dozens of better websites (though mostly commercial) that can do that.
Are Edgar's Name Pages reliable?
As reliable as I can make them. Usually, I double check information in several places, but that really means little. Statistics and etymology are two fields both notoriously undependable and/or misleading, while websites are even worse. Some sources are to be trusted more than others.
However, Edgar's Name Pages are not meant to be scholarly articles. Sources (main ones listed here) are not cited and I am not a scholar, only an enthusiast with too much time. These pages are for fun, not business.
Also, typos do creep in from time to time.
Who is Edgar?
Edgar is our mascot; he is the raven sitting atop the Edgar Name Pages logo.
Where do you find Alternates and Diminutives?
Most come from my personal collection of names, located in several large computer files on my hard disk. I have collected them over the last five years from many different books and internet sources.
How are "Famous Bearers" are Chosen?
Totally arbitrarily. I utilize the wonderful Encyclopœdia Britannica and search for appropriate entries until I am thoroughly sick of searching. This takes the longest amount of time and is the most tedious task.
Where do you find the Popularity Statistics?
Most popularity statistics (for the United States) were culled from the Social Security web site, www.ssa.gov, and the United States Census web site, www.census.gov. A small amount of others come from various reference books and websites.
Why isn't my name on your site?
It is impossible to list every name every bestowed. Geocities simply does not give enough space, neither do I have the time or energy. Most relatively common names should be already listed, or will be listed in the near future.
Why a raven?
Why not.