This dictionary explains the origin and meaning of some 4500 European and American names, while two appendices cover the most commonly recurring Indian and Arabic names. Entries give the ethnic and linguistic root of a name, cross-referring them to those closely related, and list associated cognates, masculine and feminine forms, variants, diminutives, derivatives and pet forms. Summarizing much historical and etymological information, this authoritative reference work will be beneficial to family historians, genealogists, linguists and the interested general reader.