This was one of the first annotated bibliographies on names. Smith published it originally in 1952 under the auspices of the New York Public Library. He deliberately did not copyright it so it would be available to everyone. What we have done here was to transfer the basic items so that they could be used on the web. Smith originally had over 3400 items, we have over 1500 items here and the rest are being added.
The first bibliography below has been reproduced with the kind permission of the Bar-Ilan University Press, Ramat Gan, Israel. It is from Volume 1, These Are the Names: Studies in Jewish Onomastics, 1997, pages 83-149. The series is edited by Aaron Demsky.
The second bibliography below has been reproduced with the kind permission of the Bar-Ilan University Press, Ramat Gan, Israel. It is from Volume 4, These Are the Names: Studies in Jewish Onomastics, 2003, pages 175-335. The series is edited by Aaron Demsky.
Two names enthusiasts, Philip Dance, Member, International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS), and the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland and Ed Lawson, Member, American Name Society, The Canadian Society for the Study of Names, as well as ICOS. Learned that each, independently, had been collecting onomastic items.
The items collected were in rough form. Some were complete and had been checked. Others definitely needed more work. Neverthelss, they decided to integrate what they had, feeling that researchers and scholars would benefit get at least some useful information.
Many of the items were described by the journal involved or by others. Many of the abstracts are identified. Here are some:
Author = Abstracts understood to be written by author of article or book.
Bib3 = Lawson current working notes.
ERIC = Education Resources Information Center (ERIC).
L’87 = Lawson, Edwin D. (Compiler). (1987). Personal names and naming: An annotated bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood; London: Westport Publications, 185p. Refs. Items from this source are included with copyright permission of Greenwood Press.
L’95 = Lawson, Edwin D. (Compiler). (1995). More names and naming: An annotated bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 320p. Refs. Items from this source are included with copyright permission of Greenwood Press.
Publisher’s Abstract = Abstract or description provided by publisher, often in promotional material.
Smith = Smith, Elsdon C. (1965). Personal names: A bibliography. Detroit: Gale Research, 226 p. (Originally published in 1952 by the New York Public Library). Items from this source are in the public domain through the generosity of Elsdon C. Smith, co-founder of the American Name Society.
We hope that our efforts will assist scholars in their work on onomastics.