The Oxford Names Companion

Did you know that the name Cara comes from the Italian cara, meaning beloved, or from the Irish cara, meaning friend, but that it is not normally used as a given name in Italy because of the hostility of the Roman Catholic Church to baptismal names that have not been borne by saints? Or did you know that the place‐name Leeds in West Yorkshire is a Celtic name meaning people living by the strongly flowing river? These are just two of the things I learned from a browse through The Oxford Names Companion, a work which will fascinate...