I’m accruing a nice little list, but it still feels rather incomplete. I have some sold [name_m]German[/name_m] girls’ favorites ([name_f]Johanna[/name_f], [name_f]Odilia[/name_f], [name_f]Rosamund[/name_f], [name_f]Leona[/name_f], etc.), but I’d like some boys’ favorites, as well. So far my favorite is [name_m]Andreas[/name_m] (BtN lists it as being both [name_m]German[/name_m] and Dutch), but I always found it much more Dutch than anything, so I’m not sure it really “counts” as a [name_m]German[/name_m] name?
What are your favorite [name_m]German[/name_m] names/names used in Germany?
Some light on [name_m]Andreas[/name_m] as a ‘Dutch’ name:
While [name_m]Andreas[/name_m] was definitely solid in use in the 50s and 60s in the Netherlands, I’m guessing it’s more of a passport name than anything else. Men born during those years are generally never called by their passport name, they’re probably the André’s there seem to be so many of. We’ve had a way for ages of naming a child by a ‘full’, in case of men, often Latin sounding version of a name that woud really only be used on official documents. I personally have more [name_m]German[/name_m] associations with the name.
So in that case, there it goes on my list:
[name_m]Andreas[/name_m]
[name_m]Conrad[/name_m] and [name_m]Jonas[/name_m]
But I also like [name_m]Franz[/name_m], [name_m]Oskar[/name_m], [name_m]Maximillian[/name_m], [name_m]Alaric[/name_m], [name_m]Bruno[/name_m], [name_m]Christian[/name_m], [name_m]Gerhard[/name_m] and [name_m]Lucas[/name_m].
I love the really strong, clunky [name_m]German[/name_m] boys names, a lot of these I love the sound of but would think twice before ever actually using:
[name_m]Gerhardt[/name_m]/[name_m]Gerhard[/name_m]
[name_m]Rainer[/name_m]
Rudiger
Bertholt
Deiter
[name_m]Christoph[/name_m]
[name_m]Georg[/name_m] ([name_u]GAY[/name_u]-org)
[name_m]Gustav[/name_m]
[name_m]Gunther[/name_m]
[name_m]Gregor[/name_m]
[name_m]Ingemar[/name_m]
Wolfram
[name_m]Oswald[/name_m]
[name_m]Klaus[/name_m]
[name_m]Ludwig[/name_m]
Arnulf
[name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] by far. I love it so much! I also like [name_m]Walter[/name_m], [name_m]Edgar[/name_m], [name_m]Ernest[/name_m], Hugo, and [name_m]Frederick[/name_m].
I’ve had a bit of a crush on [name_m]Otto[/name_m] recently. [name_m]Maximilian[/name_m] used to be #3 on my boy list and though it barely features now, I still find it handsome.
I also quite like [name_m]Bruno[/name_m], [name_m]Wilhelm[/name_m], [name_m]Benno[/name_m], Torben, [name_m]Oskar[/name_m], [name_m]Humbert[/name_m] & [name_m]Johann[/name_m]. The clunkiness of [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m], [name_m]Luitpold[/name_m], [name_m]Joachim[/name_m], [name_m]Waldemar[/name_m], Adalbert & Friedhelm appeals too
[name_m]Konrad[/name_m], my son’s name, is my favorite [name_m]German[/name_m] name
Also [name_m]Klaus[/name_m], my husband’s name, and both of their their middle names, [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m]
Also love [name_m]Hugo[/name_m], [name_u]Kai[/name_u], [name_m]Hans[/name_m], [name_m]Kilian[/name_m], [name_m]Otto[/name_m], [name_m]Christoph[/name_m], [name_m]Alaric[/name_m], [name_m]Karl[/name_m], [name_m]Frederick[/name_m], [name_m]Bernard[/name_m]
I adore [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] and call him Wolfie. I also love [name_u]Max[/name_u] and all of the variations. [name_m]Maxwell[/name_m], [name_m]Maximilian[/name_m]. [name_m]Leopold[/name_m] and call him [name_m]Leo[/name_m]. I also kind of like [name_m]Gunther[/name_m].
Thanks, ladies! I recently found Balthaser (maybe Baltaser?) in my family tree as a FN, so I’m really loving that! I had no clue it was a [name_m]German[/name_m] name? I’m loving [name_m]Balthasar[/name_m] so much more now.
I really love [name_m]Hugo[/name_m], [name_m]Alaric[/name_m], [name_m]Frederick[/name_m], and [name_m]Louis[/name_m] (although I always saw [name_m]Frederick[/name_m] and [name_m]Louis[/name_m] as more [name_m]French[/name_m]/English than [name_m]German[/name_m]–maybe because I thought [name_m]Friedrich[/name_m] was the [name_m]German[/name_m] form?). [name_m]Kaspar[/name_m] is definitely a favorite, too, although I think, in general, I prefer the [name_m]French[/name_m] spelling, [name_m]Caspar[/name_m]. I like [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m]/[name_m]Bastian[/name_m], [name_m]Matthias[/name_m], and [name_m]Leopold[/name_m] a lot, too. Some of these, I just didn’t know they were [name_m]German[/name_m].
I’ve been doing some research, and I have to say, I really like some of the names that are being used in Germany lately, but don’t necessarily have [name_m]German[/name_m] history–like [name_m]Samuel[/name_m], [name_u]Noah[/name_u], [name_m]Peter[/name_m], and [name_m]Henry[/name_m]…
[name_m]Just[/name_m] recently I went though the [name_m]German[/name_m] names on Behindthename because I wanted to find some new names to go with [name_m]Alaric[/name_m].
This is my current list:
[name_m]Conrad[/name_m]*
[name_m]Marcellus[/name_m]/[name_m]Marcel[/name_m]
[name_m]Leopold[/name_m]
[name_m]Edmund[/name_m]
[name_m]Leon[/name_m]
Niklaus
[name_m]Julian[/name_m]
[name_m]Hugo[/name_m]
[name_m]Henrik[/name_m] - I can’t use this with [name_m]Alaric[/name_m] obviously, but I do like it.
[name_m]Adrian[/name_m]
[name_m]Gunther[/name_m]
[name_m]Sebastian[/name_m]
[name_m]Anton[/name_m]*
[name_u]Michael[/name_u]
[name_m]Roland[/name_m]*
*In my top ten.
I have [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] on my list! I love it, but I have too many favorite names that rhyme with ‘[name_m]Al[/name_m]’. It might also be too much next to brothers named [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_u]James[/name_u], so it’s lingering on my middle name list.
As a [name_m]German[/name_m] native I wonder where you got these names from???
[name_m]Falk[/name_m]
Lutz
[name_f]Marlene[/name_f]
[name_f]Sandra[/name_f]
are [name_m]German[/name_m] names (or they are at least used in Germany as firstnames). All the other ones you mention do not exist as ([name_m]German[/name_m]) firstnames to my knowledge.
