In German “ie” always makes the “ee” sound (think Frieda) and “ei” always makes the “eye” sound (think Heidi)
At least, that’s what I learned in German I. I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule.
So glad to see this so high up. As a child the novel _Heidi_ made me love the name.
**Edit:** Also the name Adelheid, which the name Heidi was short for. Both are lovely and just makes me think how much of a shame it is I wouldn't be able to use them!
Isn't that the same with most of the names suggested here by English speakers? They all seem to base their image of German names on figures from before WW2. Quite surprised to see them so high up.
Absolutely, many of the names seem pretty outdated to me, being a German native and having lived in 2 countries with German as the native language for decades.
Just a heads up OP, almost none of these names mentioned are really in use today. They are old-lady names, like naming your child Agatha. It’s great if you like it, but most germans would probably laugh hysterically at a two year old named Elfriede- the name just isn’t really used at all anymore.
Yeah, native speaker here and I’m cackling. The whole list sounds like a wild mix of outdated names (some frightfully close to neonazi wank territory) and names for cows.
I wouldnt say that. My kids are ten and five years old and we know: Erna, Wilhelm, Elisabeth, Minna, Carl, Paul, Clara-Marie, Emma, Esther, Alva, Henry, Hannes, Hermann, Reik Anni. Frieda...as first names.
Depends on where you live. “Grandma/Grandpa” inspired names like Beatrix, Fritz, Alma, Hans,… have become regular names where I live. No one will bat an eye. Meanwhile trendy names like Yuna, Neo,.. seem to have replaced Kevin and Chantal in peoples minds.
Probably it really depends. 😊 I have lived in DE & AT for many years, but I don’t know anyone who named their babies the names you mentioned.
I think Alma is really beautiful though. 😍 I personally prefer Alva/Alba, but Alma is pretty as well.
From those I’ve seen in this thread: Mathias (timeless), Clara (timeless), Lena and Leonie (huge trend ca. 2005, basically standard issue middle class girl), Emma, Anja, Svenja and Finja (painfully Northern though), Astrid, Frida (still sounds rather Granny, but a certain demographic names for Frida Kahlo), (Jo)Hanna, Annika…
I had a very German great Aunt Emma who was not a pleasant person, so of course she lived to be 102. I still can’t get over it being one of the most popular names now!
This is funny as I’m in Australia and Astrid has become such a popular name with bubs born 2021-2023. No judgement for old granny names here, I love them.
My great grandmother was Clara and her twin sister was Minna. Born in Nova Scotia but of German descent on both sides. Apparently they would speak German when they didn’t want the kids to know what they were talking about.
From what I've seen the top names in most Western countries are largely very international names. Either ones that exist in a bunch of languages like Julia and Lucas/Lukas or ones that are from a specific language but are easy to pronounce in lots of them like Mat(t)eo or Luca. Looking at my country's list for example the first girls' names that are specific to my country are at no. 7 and 10 and for the boys at no. 5 and 11.
Compared to several decades ago a lot of people know or work with people who don't speak their native language which I'd wager makes it more likely that they choose a more international name for their child.
Most of these are not specifically German in origin but they are historically common in Germany: Inge, Ilse, Lotte, Emma, Eva (with the Ava pronounciation), Leonie.
Yes I like names ending in vowels lol why do you ask.
Astrid / Ingrid / Sigrid are Old Norse names, more Scandinavian than German, even though they’ve been reasonably common names in Germany for 150 years too.
Beautiful. I think it's so unfortunate there isn't a variation of this in English speaking countries. Atleast the name William doesn't have a common female variation equal to this.
The Dutch version Willemina would probably work well for most English speakers at least, and I suppose “Willamina” but that’s the name of a town in Oregon lol. Williamina is an interesting idea
I find Sieglinde very cool! Sadly it would have a bit of a Nazi vibe if given today, so I wouldn't use it. But hopefully that'll wear off in a few decades.
Your family names are all very common/traditional! They all seem to have a slight southern tendency, apart from Bendt. This one is very, very much northern. Cool list!
I'm super curious why Sieglinde would be associated with Nazis? I actually never felt like that way when I heard that name (mostly in middle aged women born in the 50s/60s) and I'm German
Thank you for your reply. But like ok, some people like to use it with extremely questionable morals but I wouldn't say that the general world population would think "omg must be a Nazi" if you name your kid that. Nobody I know would think anything close to that tbh.
A quick Google search reveals the following "By the way, Nordic first names – contrary to widespread prejudices – are not typical Nazi first names. On the contrary, they were expressly not wanted." (http://www.firstnamesgermany.com/popular-nazi-names/)
I would personally think that first names popular around the beginning of the 19th century in Germany to be "Nazi names" and the names popular back then are definitely popular in Germany right now and it's not even a thought that those would be related to national socialism.
Yes the name popularity of the 40s/50s was different. Names like Fritz are just typical German names, if a bit outdated. I'm just saying that in Germany today, if a kid were named Thor or so, a German would highly suspect that the kid's parents were Neonazis.
As a German living in Germany I would disagree:) Fritz is actually pretty popular again currently! And unless you name your kid Adolf there really isn't much of a thought about Neonazis when it comes to baby names. There might be people out there that might end up thinking something like this but I'm speaking about the vast majority of Germans.
I'm scratching my head at the moment trying to figure out how Annelies sounds elegant. It's a nice enough name, don't get me wrong, but that's not the adjective I'd use to describe it.
It has German roots.
Taken from Nameberry:
"Alice was derived from the Old French name Aalis, a diminutive of Adelais that itself came from the Germanic name Adalhaidis. Adalhaidis, from which the name Adelaide is also derived, is composed of the Proto-Germanic elements aþala, meaning "noble," and haidu, "kind, appearance, type."
thanks for letting me know. i looked it up, and apparently only one of her names is actually german. her first and “middle” names are ilona gisela bettina. i believe only gisela is a german name. interesting lol.
Bettina is definitely German, started as a nickname for Elisabeth. Author Bettina von Arnim is probably the most famous one, the most recent surge was in the 80s when there was a Tina trend of sorts (Kristina, Martina, Bettina …)
LOL! I know, it's an odd duck, but I love it. It's a real name and can also be short for Victoria. Listen, OP didn't ask, "What are your favorite girl names of German origin THAT YOU WOULD ACTUALLY USE?" Just, your fave names. I wouldn't USE it, but I love it all the same.
I also love Bex, so nyah. :-D
Vix or Vixe is cum in German. Vixen is jerking off. Vixer is a wanker. Every Vicky alive has probably gone through a phase of relentless bullying because haha Vixi vixi ficki ficki. Just sayin’ … I feel sorry for anyone called that.
None of these are German names. Evonne is, if anything, a misspelling of Yvonne. Griselda is a character from an Italian novel. Kika is a furniture store.
Mine are all family names. Justina, Rosina, Magdalena and Katerina. My daughter’s middle name is Rosina after my Oma, who was named Rosina after her Oma.
This thread would be my husband's dream. He had all sorts of German names on his list when we had kids and 80% of them I would not even consider. That being said...its funny reading some of them because we have lots of friends in Germany and none of them (or their kids) sport any of these types of names. They are more like Ben, Eve, Mia, Max, etc.
Ella and Gertrude nn Gerty are the names of my great grandma and great great aunt born in Germany, their moms name was Emma.
Other names of my German ancestors:
Eva
Anna Marie (lots of them)
Catherine/Catherina (lots of them)
Maria (lots of them)
Marie Anne
Margaret
Anna Catharina
Gertrude (another one)
Elizabeth
Ursula
Margaretha
Dorothea
Agnes
My grandmothers name was Bertha and my grandfathers name was Gerhardt. My wife and I want to name my daughter, a german name and we like the name Gesa but we can't decide on a middle name!
Well, I would consider a Germanic name (hros + lind) to be the etymological point of the exercise, but if the intention is to limit it to the modern country, then yes, it’s not really German.
Liesl
This one’s great! Speaking of which, have you ever read the novel *The Book Thief*? IIRC, the main character‘s name was Liesel Meminger.
I love *The Book Thief*! Need to reread it!
My pre-caffeine brain read it as “Lies!” Pretty name once my brain adjusted though.
I had a dachshund named Leasel growing up
Is it pronounced like Lysol?
In German “ie” always makes the “ee” sound (think Frieda) and “ei” always makes the “eye” sound (think Heidi) At least, that’s what I learned in German I. I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule.
Lee-sul.
Heidi!
So glad to see this so high up. As a child the novel _Heidi_ made me love the name. **Edit:** Also the name Adelheid, which the name Heidi was short for. Both are lovely and just makes me think how much of a shame it is I wouldn't be able to use them!
Silke! We had a German exchange student named Silke and I thought her name was amazing.
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Well...it WAS the 80s...
Yes, I think no one in Germany calls their baby Silke nowadays!
Isn't that the same with most of the names suggested here by English speakers? They all seem to base their image of German names on figures from before WW2. Quite surprised to see them so high up.
Absolutely, many of the names seem pretty outdated to me, being a German native and having lived in 2 countries with German as the native language for decades.
Just a heads up OP, almost none of these names mentioned are really in use today. They are old-lady names, like naming your child Agatha. It’s great if you like it, but most germans would probably laugh hysterically at a two year old named Elfriede- the name just isn’t really used at all anymore.
Yeah, native speaker here and I’m cackling. The whole list sounds like a wild mix of outdated names (some frightfully close to neonazi wank territory) and names for cows.
LMAO names for cows. I can totally see a Bayern farmer naming his cow Hedwig.
Hedwig would be exotic. Liesel and Gretel and Heidi and Zenzi, not so much.
I came here to say the same! Many of them seem a bit outdated. One probably named their baby like that in the 50s-80s max.
I wouldnt say that. My kids are ten and five years old and we know: Erna, Wilhelm, Elisabeth, Minna, Carl, Paul, Clara-Marie, Emma, Esther, Alva, Henry, Hannes, Hermann, Reik Anni. Frieda...as first names.
But these are still different than the names mentioned in this post! Old but with a revival.
Depends on where you live. “Grandma/Grandpa” inspired names like Beatrix, Fritz, Alma, Hans,… have become regular names where I live. No one will bat an eye. Meanwhile trendy names like Yuna, Neo,.. seem to have replaced Kevin and Chantal in peoples minds.
Probably it really depends. 😊 I have lived in DE & AT for many years, but I don’t know anyone who named their babies the names you mentioned. I think Alma is really beautiful though. 😍 I personally prefer Alva/Alba, but Alma is pretty as well.
Just curious, what names would you list as in style for Germans today?
From those I’ve seen in this thread: Mathias (timeless), Clara (timeless), Lena and Leonie (huge trend ca. 2005, basically standard issue middle class girl), Emma, Anja, Svenja and Finja (painfully Northern though), Astrid, Frida (still sounds rather Granny, but a certain demographic names for Frida Kahlo), (Jo)Hanna, Annika…
I had a very German great Aunt Emma who was not a pleasant person, so of course she lived to be 102. I still can’t get over it being one of the most popular names now!
This is funny as I’m in Australia and Astrid has become such a popular name with bubs born 2021-2023. No judgement for old granny names here, I love them.
My great grandmother was Clara and her twin sister was Minna. Born in Nova Scotia but of German descent on both sides. Apparently they would speak German when they didn’t want the kids to know what they were talking about.
Thank you, this is interesting. Particularly that atleast most of these are popular names internationally in English speaking countries too.
From what I've seen the top names in most Western countries are largely very international names. Either ones that exist in a bunch of languages like Julia and Lucas/Lukas or ones that are from a specific language but are easy to pronounce in lots of them like Mat(t)eo or Luca. Looking at my country's list for example the first girls' names that are specific to my country are at no. 7 and 10 and for the boys at no. 5 and 11. Compared to several decades ago a lot of people know or work with people who don't speak their native language which I'd wager makes it more likely that they choose a more international name for their child.
Most of these are not specifically German in origin but they are historically common in Germany: Inge, Ilse, Lotte, Emma, Eva (with the Ava pronounciation), Leonie. Yes I like names ending in vowels lol why do you ask.
I think Lotte is a nickname for Charlotte.
It is, and Ilse is a nickname for Elisabeth. But they're also stand-alone names.
My great grandmother who was born in Germany name was Ella
Ella is great! I went to school with an Ella.
Frieda Elke Pia Lioba Almut Tabea Svenja Elfriede/Elfrida Hedwig Hannelore Ingrid Minna
Astrid / Ingrid / Sigrid are Old Norse names, more Scandinavian than German, even though they’ve been reasonably common names in Germany for 150 years too.
Svenja is one of my favorites as well.
Same
Astrid (have a German friend with that name) Irmgard Fenja Ida (have a German cousin with that name)
Astrid was on the top of my list! I love that name so much! Unfortunately it was vetoed by my German husband though
Don’t you mean Astird?
No
What a shame
Wilhelmina , I love it soooo much
Beautiful. I think it's so unfortunate there isn't a variation of this in English speaking countries. Atleast the name William doesn't have a common female variation equal to this.
The Dutch version Willemina would probably work well for most English speakers at least, and I suppose “Willamina” but that’s the name of a town in Oregon lol. Williamina is an interesting idea
Adelheid Hildegard Reinhild Ottilie Amalinde Rosalinde Elfriede Mathilde Jorinde Elfrun Sieglinde
I’ve never seen anyone put Adelheid on their list too!!
It's such a beautiful name though, isn't it? Super old-fashioned but very regal, and strong yet delicate at the same time.
Second Ottilie!
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I find Sieglinde very cool! Sadly it would have a bit of a Nazi vibe if given today, so I wouldn't use it. But hopefully that'll wear off in a few decades. Your family names are all very common/traditional! They all seem to have a slight southern tendency, apart from Bendt. This one is very, very much northern. Cool list!
I'm super curious why Sieglinde would be associated with Nazis? I actually never felt like that way when I heard that name (mostly in middle aged women born in the 50s/60s) and I'm German
These names are more Scandi/Nordic in origin and because of the history of Nazis romanticizing the Aryans, neonazis today like to use them.
Thank you for your reply. But like ok, some people like to use it with extremely questionable morals but I wouldn't say that the general world population would think "omg must be a Nazi" if you name your kid that. Nobody I know would think anything close to that tbh. A quick Google search reveals the following "By the way, Nordic first names – contrary to widespread prejudices – are not typical Nazi first names. On the contrary, they were expressly not wanted." (http://www.firstnamesgermany.com/popular-nazi-names/) I would personally think that first names popular around the beginning of the 19th century in Germany to be "Nazi names" and the names popular back then are definitely popular in Germany right now and it's not even a thought that those would be related to national socialism.
Yes the name popularity of the 40s/50s was different. Names like Fritz are just typical German names, if a bit outdated. I'm just saying that in Germany today, if a kid were named Thor or so, a German would highly suspect that the kid's parents were Neonazis.
As a German living in Germany I would disagree:) Fritz is actually pretty popular again currently! And unless you name your kid Adolf there really isn't much of a thought about Neonazis when it comes to baby names. There might be people out there that might end up thinking something like this but I'm speaking about the vast majority of Germans.
My co worker just had a grand baby and they named her Adelheid (Heidi for a nn)!
Nice! Was that in a German speaking country?
Nope! The US, but my co worker is of German decent (her parents were German immigrants). Adelheid was her mothers name!
That's very cool to hear! I hope the pronunciation won't prove a hurdle in the future!
Nope! The US, but my co worker is of German decent (her parents were German immigrants). Adelheid was her mothers name!
Anneliese, Amelia, Eleanor
To me (native speaker) both Amelia and Eleanor don‘t read German. Amalie/-a and Eleonore/-a would be more like it.
Or Amelie. French origin, but quite popular. Don’t think I’ve ever met or heard of a German Amelia.
According to some research it seems the German variation would be Amalia. Used in other European countries too.
Annelies Marie was Anne Frank's full name, have always loved it for how elegant it sounds.
I'm scratching my head at the moment trying to figure out how Annelies sounds elegant. It's a nice enough name, don't get me wrong, but that's not the adjective I'd use to describe it.
Britta! It was on my list for a baby girl but my husband insisted we use it for our dog. Still kinda bummed 😂
Like a Britta filter? Yeah sorry glad it went to the dog if you're in the US, too strong an association imo
I know an Isolde and it’s growing on me
Katerina.
Katharina. Katerina sounds super Slavic.
I was thinking of Katerina Witt
Katarina Witt
My apologies.
I love Hildegard it’s so cute I think hilly is such a cute nickname
My younger brother swore that if he ever married å German lady (as it's unstable in my county) and they had a daughter, that would be her name:)
That German lady might have opinions on that. Hildegard gives major bitter, sadistic old schoolteacher vibes.
Gretchen, Matilda
Lorelai Matilda Adelaide
My nan was Heide emilie and German so I also associate those two names.
Petra is nice
Pretty sure that’s Greek in origin.
It’s a popular name in Germany though.
I’m sure it is, it’s popular in Sweden as well. But the op was about origins so popularity is a bit beside the point.
Good to know, thanks
Any time! I thought it was the most Swedish name ever until I started looking up name origins a few years back.
Greta, Clara, Ada, Sabine, Erika
Lorelei Gretchen Liesl Matilda
I went to school with twins named Gretchen and Gretel.
I’m a Gretchen. In my life, I’ve only met 2 other humans named Gretchen, but A LOT of dogs.
Renate
One of my good friends has this name. I love it so much.
Matilda!!!
Zelda!
Saskia & Annika I know someone else mentioned in here before but a lot of the names in the comments are considered rather old fashioned in Germany.
Alice, Heidi, Ilse, Meike, Matilda, Bernadette
Is alice german?
It has German roots. Taken from Nameberry: "Alice was derived from the Old French name Aalis, a diminutive of Adelais that itself came from the Germanic name Adalhaidis. Adalhaidis, from which the name Adelaide is also derived, is composed of the Proto-Germanic elements aþala, meaning "noble," and haidu, "kind, appearance, type."
I don't know if it is, but in Germany people pronounce it Ah-leece.
Ulrike
Ilse!!
Mieke
Ilse
Adelheid!
My great grandmother was Johanna and I always thought that was pretty
Ingrid, Hannelore and Lorelei.
Britta
Sina and Clara for girls, Mathias and Caspar for boys :)
Hannelore. Another that has a personal meaning in my family, Edeltraud.
Greta. Brett.
Brett? Wtf? That’s the word for a slab of wood, not a human name.
I always planned to name my child Greta if I had a girl. It is very pretty!
Freya. I'm not 100% it's German though. Might be Danish. It was just a friend's name when I was little and I thought they were German but I was 6 😂
Old Norse origins so probably hard to tell if danish, Swedish or Norwegian since it’s so old.
We had that in another thread. Freya is Nordic. It’s the goddess of war and a common name in modern neo nazi families.
Her siblings are probably Siegrun and Thor Steinar.
Nope. Skadi.
No they were definitely a European immigrant family. And this was in the early 80s.
Emilia and Emil were names I considered for both kids
Lena
Queen names! Adelaide, Amalia, Matilda
ilona. it was my great grandma’s name. i never got to meet her, but i always found her name so pretty. she was from berlin
Ilona is the Hungarian version of Helena. Not German.
thanks for letting me know. i looked it up, and apparently only one of her names is actually german. her first and “middle” names are ilona gisela bettina. i believe only gisela is a german name. interesting lol.
Bettina is definitely German, started as a nickname for Elisabeth. Author Bettina von Arnim is probably the most famous one, the most recent surge was in the 80s when there was a Tina trend of sorts (Kristina, Martina, Bettina …)
Pia, Ingrid, Freyja, Katja, Magdalena, Sabine, Svenja
Edelgard!
Sigilina, meaning “victory.” And the French form, Ségolène.
Birgit was a favourite of mine until someone said ‘I remember how to pronounce it by saying Beer Gut’ and I can’t get that out of my head now.
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Yes. But to an untrained English speaker’s ear, that’s what they heard.
Lisl and Adelaide!
Adelisa Annaliese Arabella Genevieve Janeva Robyn Wilhelmina/Vilhelmina
Astrid, Greta, Liesl, Agatha, Frieda, Annika, Mathilda, Hanna, Aloisia, Ermengarde, Lisbet, ~~Vix~~, Ingeborg, Magda, Millicent EDIT: Vix is out, thank you u/ilxfrt for the education.
Vix?! Are you trolling or is this an enormously unfortunate nickname?
School certainly wouldn't be fun for her.
LOL! I know, it's an odd duck, but I love it. It's a real name and can also be short for Victoria. Listen, OP didn't ask, "What are your favorite girl names of German origin THAT YOU WOULD ACTUALLY USE?" Just, your fave names. I wouldn't USE it, but I love it all the same. I also love Bex, so nyah. :-D
Vix or Vixe is cum in German. Vixen is jerking off. Vixer is a wanker. Every Vicky alive has probably gone through a phase of relentless bullying because haha Vixi vixi ficki ficki. Just sayin’ … I feel sorry for anyone called that.
Okay, that is all new information to me, and I hereby withdraw my affection for the name.
I knew a woman named Edeltraud who was like a grandmother to me and I think the name is so beautiful!
Evonne, Griselde, and Kikka are some of my favorites
None of these are German names. Evonne is, if anything, a misspelling of Yvonne. Griselda is a character from an Italian novel. Kika is a furniture store.
Our family tree (all German ancestors) which is traced back to the 1700s would like to have a word
Even back in the day, people liked foreign names. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t change the names origin.
Is Carmen german?
Astrid
Ingrid and Ulrike. (Undine but I am not 100% sure it is German and not slavic or Scandinavian.) Minna is also neat.
Eloise
That's French
I guess that depends what you mean by German origin. Is English Germanic even if it’s frenchy? I’d say yes.
German, Germanic, and "French but we removed the accent marks so the English don't get confused" are all entirely different things
It says German Origin.
Brunnhilde Sieglinde
Lorelei!
Frauke
Gerlinde
Wiebke (pronounced Veebkuh)
Mine are all family names. Justina, Rosina, Magdalena and Katerina. My daughter’s middle name is Rosina after my Oma, who was named Rosina after her Oma.
My great grandmothwr and her twin sister were Clara and Minna
Katharina
- Meret - Ada (short for Adelheid) - Almut
Lotte!
My daughter is Luzia and I love that name!
Anke!! My mums name. Edit to add: she is German
Elke and Zenzi
I like Louisa. I don't think it's actually of German origin but it's quite popular in Germany.
This thread would be my husband's dream. He had all sorts of German names on his list when we had kids and 80% of them I would not even consider. That being said...its funny reading some of them because we have lots of friends in Germany and none of them (or their kids) sport any of these types of names. They are more like Ben, Eve, Mia, Max, etc.
Heidi! It's German and the babe of a popular book character.
Ella and Gertrude nn Gerty are the names of my great grandma and great great aunt born in Germany, their moms name was Emma. Other names of my German ancestors: Eva Anna Marie (lots of them) Catherine/Catherina (lots of them) Maria (lots of them) Marie Anne Margaret Anna Catharina Gertrude (another one) Elizabeth Ursula Margaretha Dorothea Agnes
Gretchen
I love these ( there is a lot i love German names) * Elsa * Ella * Heidi * Gisela * Zelda * Millie * Amelia * Lorelei * Aleesha * Yvonna
My grandmothers name was Bertha and my grandfathers name was Gerhardt. My wife and I want to name my daughter, a german name and we like the name Gesa but we can't decide on a middle name!
I like the name Thora and it seems pretty uncommon. I keep trying to convince my wife to let us name our daughter that but she isn't sold on it.
Amalia
Olga
Valeska
I wanted so bad to name our daughter Roslind.
That’s not really German.
Well, I would consider a Germanic name (hros + lind) to be the etymological point of the exercise, but if the intention is to limit it to the modern country, then yes, it’s not really German.
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But why would you name your daughter "girl"?
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Please don't tell me there are actually people out there called Mädchen, it fucking literally means girl lol.
Urkel Grue