What does the name Calvin mean? What is the meaning of Beverley? Which boy’s name means ‘little seal’? Which girl’s name means ‘spear strength’? And what links Merle and Mavis?

Answers: bald; beaver stream; Ronan; Gertrude; both are birds - Merle means blackbird and Mavis means songthrush.

The CHAMBERS DICTIONARY OF FIRST NAMES offers pronunciations, meanings, histories, variant spellings and other colourful information about 10,000 names in more than 4,000 entries. It also explains changing fashions in names, mentions famous historical, literary or cultural figures who bore a name and offers invaluable advice on everything from cultural traditions to potential pitfalls in naming your child.