In search of stylish German names with substance

Girl Names
1

My husband and I are expecting our very first baby in late [name_u]December[/name_u]. We have decided against learning if the baby is a boy or a girl.

We have a name locked in if the baby is a boy: [name_m]Jonah[/name_m]. However, we are having a terrible time with girls’ names.

We are starting over with our girls’ list and need all the help we can get. Our last name has 10 letters, three syllables, and is very [name_m]German[/name_m]. It is very similar to G-R-A-N-D-M-A-Y-E-R. I feel like some of my very favorite baby girls’ names, such as [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] and [name_f]Naomi[/name_f], don’t jive with it very well.

I’m thinking we might need a Germanic or Scandinavian name to make it flow well. What do you think? Any suggestions? (One of my all-time favorite names, [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], is perfect and Germanic, but it is becoming too popular for my liking. We can’t use [name_f]Annika[/name_f] or [name_f]Anika[/name_f] because we have very close family friends with a daughter named [name_f]Anika[/name_f].)

We love strong but feminine names that have depth and meaning. We are religious and spiritual – I grew up Catholic.

I like many of these names below, but I am not sure if I love any of them. Please help! Suggestions and advice are very welcome.

*[name_f]Adela[/name_f]
*[name_f]Adina[/name_f]
*[name_f]Adriana[/name_f] with a nickname of [name_f]Ada[/name_f], possibly
*[name_f]Eliza[/name_f] or [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]
*[name_f]Emilia[/name_f] with a nickname of [name_f]Millie[/name_f], possibly
*[name_f]Emiliana[/name_f] (Is it too feminine and frilly?)
*[name_f]Juliana[/name_f]

Please help us find a beautiful name that flows well with our VERY CLUNKY surname! Thank you all!

2

[name_f]Willa[/name_f] ([name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] probably way too clunky)
[name_f]Greta[/name_f] (could be [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] or the more [name_m]German[/name_m] [name_f]Margarethe[/name_f]-at least that was my [name_m]German[/name_m] grandmother’s name)
[name_f]Elke[/name_f]

Those are 3 [name_m]German[/name_m] names I really like.

I too grew up with a clunky [name_m]German[/name_m] surname. My aunts were mostly named after flowers ([name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Calla[/name_f], [name_f]Iris[/name_f]) and I was given a short, crisp contemporary name. My sister had a biblical name and my brother was given a very British name. So I think that I would go more with sound than ethnicity.

[name_f]Juliana[/name_f] is my favorite of your names above.

3

Thank you so much! Biblical names and floral names are definitely strong possibilities. I like your advice about focusing on sound, rather than on ethnicity.

When my now-husband and I started dating in 2010, we had a baby name conversation on a long road trip. We’d heard of a little girl named [name_f]Elsa[/name_f] and fell in love with the name. Then … Disney ruined it. (Shakes fist at sky!) [name_f]Elsa[/name_f] is one of the few names that would have worked so well with our surname, but I would never give my child a Disney princess name.

I love, love, [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] the name [name_f]Greta[/name_f], but I think it’s too harsh since our surname also starts with Gr. That would be a few too many Grrrrrs! Ha.

Thank you for the suggestions! I will run them by my husband.

Please keep the suggestions coming!

4

I love:

[name_f]Amelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f]
[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]
[name_f]Emilia[/name_f]

5

I don’t know if you mean your surname is pronounced or sounds like Grandmayer, but I think both [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] and [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] sound great with that surname

6

[name_f]Annalise[/name_f] and [name_f]Leonie[/name_f] are lovely I think

7

I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_f]Adela[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], & [name_f]Juliana[/name_f]! More suggestions could be…

[name_f]Ada[/name_f]
[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f]

8

Not all of these are [name_m]German[/name_m], but I think all of them sound great with ‘Grandmayer’

[name_f]Heidi[/name_f]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]
[name_f]Bridget[/name_f]
[name_f]Sabine[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_f]Johanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Lara[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Anja[/name_f]
[name_f]Elise[/name_f]
[name_f]Adeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Maja[/name_f]/[name_f]Maya[/name_f]
[name_f]Davina[/name_f]
[name_f]Eva[/name_f]
[name_f]Dinah[/name_f]

9

[name_u]Love[/name_u] [name_f]Emilia[/name_f] and [name_f]Millie[/name_f].
[name_f]Ada[/name_f] is a favorite as well.

I am suggesting [name_f]Minna[/name_f], [name_f]Beata[/name_f], [name_f]Irena[/name_f], [name_f]Sonja[/name_f], [name_f]Gisela[/name_f], and [name_f]Luisa[/name_f].

10

[name_f]Heidi[/name_f]?? I love that name! I also think that [name_f]Bridget[/name_f] is an amazing name that actually gets better with a strong last name. “[name_f]Bridget[/name_f] [name_m]Jones[/name_m]”? Boring. [name_f]Bridget[/name_f] Grandmayer? Now we’re getting somewhere. Variations are [name_f]Birgit[/name_f] and [name_f]Brigitta[/name_f] (my favourite name from The Sound of [name_f]Music[/name_f]!)

What about [name_f]Anja[/name_f]? If your friends pronounce [name_f]Annika[/name_f] as [name_f]ANN[/name_f]-icka, then [name_m]AH[/name_m]-nya is a very different name, imo. I also think [name_f]Sonja[/name_f] is a sleek name with clunky European lasts. A Scandinavian name with charm is [name_f]Liv[/name_f].

I also like [name_f]Anita[/name_f] and [name_f]Vera[/name_f] with heavily [name_m]German[/name_m] last names. They are vintage names that are feminine, strong, simple, and slightly more stylish than [name_f]Rose[/name_f] and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f]. With flower names, I wouldn’t do anything too “light” like [name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Violet[/name_f] or [name_f]Daisy[/name_f]. With “Grandmayer” I’d probably do [name_f]Iris[/name_f] or [name_f]Ivy[/name_f], or [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f] if brave, or not use flowers.

Does [name_f]Ingrid[/name_f] have too much “gr”? I’ve always liked that name. [name_f]Ingrid[/name_f] Bergman is my favourite actress. :slight_smile:

I like [name_f]Emilia[/name_f]! With a nn of [name_f]Mila[/name_f]. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though [name_f]Lily[/name_f] sounds too wispy for a formal first name, what about [name_f]Liliana[/name_f]? I also love [name_f]Marta[/name_f] with a [name_m]German[/name_m] last name.

I knew a girl with a clunky [name_m]German[/name_m] last name whose first name was [name_u]Simone[/name_u]. EVERYONE loved her name, including me.

[name_f]Antonia[/name_f] and [name_f]Frederica[/name_f] or [name_f]Federica[/name_f] would stand up to your last name, mp. In fact, [name_f]Frederica[/name_f] Grandmayer is stunning, imo.

[name_f]Heidi[/name_f]
[name_f]Bridget[/name_f]/[name_f]Birgit[/name_f]/[name_f]Brigitta[/name_f]
[name_f]Anja[/name_f]
[name_f]Sonja[/name_f]
[name_f]Liv[/name_f]
[name_f]Anita[/name_f]
[name_f]Vera[/name_f]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Ivy[/name_f]
[name_f]Zinnia[/name_f]
[name_f]Ingrid[/name_f]
[name_f]Liliana[/name_f]
[name_f]Marta[/name_f]
[name_u]Simone[/name_u]
[name_f]Antonia[/name_f]
[name_f]Frederica[/name_f]/[name_f]Federica[/name_f]

11

I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_f]Adela[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], & [name_f]Juliana[/name_f]! What about…

[name_f]Ada[/name_f]
[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f]
[name_f]Adelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Amalia[/name_f]
[name_f]Christiane[/name_f]
[name_u]Emery[/name_u]
[name_f]Greta[/name_f]
[name_f]Heidi[/name_f]
[name_f]Ida[/name_f]
[name_u]Isa[/name_u]
[name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f]
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f]
[name_f]Katrina[/name_f]
[name_f]Lorelei[/name_f]
[name_f]Millicent[/name_f]
[name_f]Minna[/name_f]
[name_f]Rhita[/name_f]
[name_f]Rilla[/name_f]
[name_f]Therese[/name_f]
[name_f]Tilly[/name_f]
[name_f]Willa[/name_f]

12

I think you have some good choices in your list and above. My first thought was [name_f]Louisa[/name_f]. I also like all the -ya/-ia/-ja ending names-- [name_f]Anya[/name_f], [name_f]Sonja[/name_f], [name_f]Tania[/name_f], [name_f]Daria[/name_f], etc. A Dutch name that might work well is Marlies.

13

All beautiful choices, but please don’t call her ‘[name_f]Milly[/name_f]’. I always hear ‘mealy’ and think of revolting mealworms. [name_f]Mila[/name_f] is a cute nn.

14

These are my own favourite [name_m]German[/name_m] (ish) names (sorry for any repeats):

[name_f]Agathe[/name_f]
[name_f]Aloisia[/name_f]
[name_f]Ebba[/name_f]
[name_f]Frederika[/name_f]/[name_f]Friederike[/name_f]
[name_f]Gisela[/name_f]
[name_f]Hanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Hedwig[/name_f] “[name_f]Hedy[/name_f]”
[name_f]Josepha[/name_f]
[name_f]Leonie[/name_f]
Lies
[name_f]Magda[/name_f]
[name_f]Meike[/name_f]
[name_f]Petra[/name_f]
[name_u]Romy[/name_u]
[name_f]Saskia[/name_f]
[name_f]Sibylla[/name_f]
[name_f]Vilma[/name_f]
[name_f]Zita[/name_f]

1 Like
15

[name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_f]Anja[/name_f]?

I love both [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] and [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] and think they flow well with your surname.

[name_f]Heidi[/name_f] is another name that pops into my head. What about some lesser used biblical names (I noticed that was mentioned in a previous post)

[name_f]Tabitha[/name_f]
[name_f]Keturah[/name_f]
[name_f]Hadassah[/name_f]
[name_f]Joanna[/name_f] (I love this one) or [name_f]Johanna[/name_f] if you prefer (different pronunciation)
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f]
[name_f]Miriam[/name_f]

I’m not great with [name_m]German[/name_m] sounding names but, I have a friend named:

[name_f]Janeska[/name_f] ( YA-NES-KA is the pronunciation, I think it’s gorgeous)

My favourite from your list is [name_f]Juliana[/name_f].

16

I think [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] sounds fine with your last name.
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f] and [name_f]Ada[/name_f] are my favourites from your list and I love the suggestions of [name_f]Amalia[/name_f] and [name_f]Louisa[/name_f].

17

[name_f]Adela[/name_f] and [name_f]Emiliana[/name_f] are lovely!

Maybe:
[name_f]Raffaela[/name_f], [name_f]Amelina[/name_f], [name_f]Rosamond[/name_f] / [name_f]Rosamund[/name_f], [name_f]Matilda[/name_f], [name_f]Adelia[/name_f], [name_f]Amalea[/name_f], [name_f]Eleonora[/name_f], [name_f]Editha[/name_f], [name_f]Bettina[/name_f], [name_f]Elke[/name_f] / [name_f]Elka[/name_f], [name_f]Frieda[/name_f], [name_f]Frida[/name_f], [name_f]Franca[/name_f], [name_f]Hannelore[/name_f], [name_f]Giselle[/name_f], [name_f]Heidi[/name_f], [name_f]Ida[/name_f], [name_f]Ivara[/name_f], [name_f]Juliane[/name_f], [name_f]Leonore[/name_f], [name_f]Tilly[/name_f], [name_f]Willa[/name_f], [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f].

18

I agree that [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] and [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] both sound quite pretty with your surname, especially [name_f]Juliet[/name_f].

What about [name_f]Margo[/name_f]?
[name_f]Clara[/name_f] - too popular? it also sound fantastic
[name_f]Linnea[/name_f]
[name_f]Hanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Dinah[/name_f]

19

I like [name_f]Juliana[/name_f] from your list. These are the names I’ve been hearing in our [name_m]German[/name_m] circle:

[name_f]Verena[/name_f]
[name_f]Caroline[/name_f]
[name_f]Sophie[/name_f]
[name_f]Nadine[/name_f]
[name_f]Anouk[/name_f]
[name_f]Jana[/name_f]
[name_f]Nathalie[/name_f]
Fenja
[name_u]Simone[/name_u]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]
[name_f]Theresa[/name_f]

20

I’m a fan of [name_f]Hannelore[/name_f]. (pronounced hah-na-lore-uh).