Adrian Room

Adrian Richard West Room (27 September 1933, Melksham – 6 November 2010, Stamford, Lincolnshire) was a British toponymist and onomastician, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a prolific author of reference works relating primarily to the origins of words and place-names.

Between 1952 and 1979, Room served in the Royal Naval Reserve, Special Branch, retiring as a lieutenant commander. Before becoming a full-time author, he was employed at King's College School, Cambridge, where he taught modern languages and was a senior house master. He later, until 1984, worked as a senior lecturer in Russian for the Ministry of Defence.

Selected publications

• Place-Names of the World. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974.
• Place-name changes since 1900: A world gazetteer. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980. ISBN 0710007027
• Naming Names: Stories of Pseudonyms and Name Changes with a Who's Who. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981. ISBN 0710009208
• Dictionary of Trade Name Origins. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982. ISBN 0710008392
• Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable. 2000. (Editor) ISBN 9780304350964
• Cassell's Foreign Words and Phrases. London: Cassell & Co., 2000. ISBN 0304350087
• A. to Z. of British Life
• Dictionary of Confusable Words
• Bloomsbury Dictionary of Place Names in the British Isles
• A Dictionary of True Etymologies
• Who's Who in Classical Mythology
• Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (This edition published after his death)
• Cassell's Dictionary of Word Histories
• Dictionary of Irish Place Names
• Cassell's Dictionary of First Names
• The Guinness Book of Numbers
• Room's Dictionary of distinguishables
• Ntc's Dictionary of Changes in Meaning
• The Fascinating Origins of Everyday Words
• Brewer's dictionary of names
• Tuttle dictionary of dedications
• Room's Dictionary of Differences
• Concise dictionary of word origins
• Ntc's Dictionary of Word Origins
• Dictionary of Confusing Words and Meanings
• Dunces, Gourmands & Petticoats
• Cassell Dictionary of Proper Names
• A Concise Dictionary of Modern Place Names in Great Britain and Ireland
• Dictionary of Changes in Meaning
• Nicknames of Places: Origins And Meanings of the Alternate And Secondary
• Dictionary of Coin Names. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987. ISBN 0710206461
• African Placenames
• Dictionary of Translated Names and Titles
• Dictionary of Cryptic Crossword Clues
• Dictionary of Dedications
• Room's Classical Dictionary
• The Street Names of England
• The Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of Confusible Words
• Dictionary of Astronomical Names
• A dictionary of contrasting pairs
• The Naming of Animals
• A Dictionary of Art Titles
• Guide to British Place Names
• Dictionary of World Place-names Derived from English Names
• The Pronunciation of Placenames: A Worldwide Dictionary
• Dictionary of place-names in the British Isles
• A Dictionary of Music Titles
• Alternate Names of Places: A Worldwide Dictionary
• Ntc's Dictionary of Trade Name Origins
• Placenames of France
• Bloomsbury Dictionary of Dedications
• Literally Entitled
• Encyclopedia of corporate names worldwide
• Ntc's Classical Dictionary
• Cassell's Dictionary of Modern American History
• Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of First Names
• The Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of Place Names
• Placenames of Russia and the Former Soviet Union
• Room's Dictionary of Distinguishables and Confusibles
• An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies
• Dictionary Of British Place Names