Names that work in English and German (and don't sound too German!)

[CupOfBrownJoy]

I'm English, raised in Wales, DP is German. We live in Germany.

Surname is short, one syllable beginning with R.

I'm looking for longish girls names, 3 or 4 syllables. So far we can agree on Cecilia or Isolde. I like Beatrice and Amandine but DP isn't keen. Genevieve is a possibility but its a mouthful in German!

Middle name would be Anna, Sophia or (probably) Theresa after family.

Boys I'm finding impossible. I love Benjamin, DP hates it. He loves Fritz

We can agree on Welsh boys names eg Iolo, Ieuan, Iestyn, which are all pronounceable in German but not from the spelling, iyswim.

I'm stuck! I would really appreciate

1. input on names we have
2. further suggestions
3. opinions on whether giving a boy in Germany a Welsh name is downright cruel?

TIA

Erika :)

I have a Claudia - no regrets

OP I am thinking of the kid having to e plain 1000s of time to people upon 1st meeting them.

Dorothea is lovely.

What about Benedict for a boy? (Ben or bene or Benny or benji for short)

That's not meh!

Explain not e plain

Thomas. I went to uni with one from Cologne, whose brother was Wolfgang. It didn't ever occur to me that his name was German until then .

Cecilia is a sweet name, IMO.

I'm in NRW Psammead.

Tomasz also going on the list, is that a German spelling? In Welsh its Tomos...

German would be Thomas. THat looks Polish to me

How about Huw for a boy? Or Dylan.

Cup don't tell him :o I wanted to call DC2 Islay after a wonderful pony I knew, but the pronunciation was too awkward for Czechs.

actually, have just thought, I rode a wee pony called Teddy for a while too. He was awesome.

Teddy can be short for Edward too, of course.

Klara, Cara, also good names. Elisa. Kristofer.

I'm loving Cecilia actually, but I ran in past my mum and she pulled a face. Teach me to tell anyone in rl our name choices!!

Cecilia is also the patron saint of music, and DP is a musician, so it seems to fit nicely. It just seems astonishingly Catholic when put with Theresa

Oh good We're in BW and are thinking of Dorothea and Noah. Just checking you were not up the road!

ex was a dylan

Steffan?

my mum sneered a bit at our name choice for DS (Oliver) after he was born. We haven't told any family our name choice this time - they had their chances, it's our turn now! We can call her Depressed Cupboard Cheesecake if we want, she's our baby! (we've gone for Emilie as a compromise though :o)

Lovely choices Psammead

How are you finding the German antenatal care? I'm early days yet but I seem to be at scans and appointments every 2 minutes! I'm paying a fortune for the insurance though....

Emilie is very pretty Kveta

How about Rosalind for a girl shortening to Rosa or Rosie

Finding it very good. The pediatric care is also generally excellent. We can always get a same day appointment for our daughter, no matter what the problem.

Do you have a midwife yet?

Daniel, Marcus or Philip? Or Michael but it would be pronounced differently.

Astrid, Clare, Fenella, Patricia (if not too old-fashioned?), Anneliese, Malena?

I saw a list of current top 20 German names somewhere recently, and was struck how many of them were also or originally English names. So you should be able to find something that works well!

Not yet Psamm, we've just seen the gynae so far but we're going to ask at the next appointment when we should call the midwife. Things have been a bit hectic....!

I know a girl who is Anna Magdalena whose mother is East German. I named my dd Anna as I am a German teacher. She has Cordelia as a middle name though. What about Nils for a boy?

Thanks for all the great suggestions, we've got a few more on the list now

Pg tiredness has caught up with me so I'm off to bed!! But thanks to all and I'll check again in the morning x

You could ask then for a list of midwives they recommend You'll have to make your own enquiries and they usually like to see you at around 12-15 weeks.

Good luck!

If you have any questions, PM me any time. I've been through it once here so I might be some use

oh, we have the same problem (only we don't live in Germany)

am finding boys names particularly hard this time around (dc3)

some that might be considered (and I am jsut as fussy as dh, so it's not all him!):

Christian
Christophe
Oscar
Eric
Caspar
Michael

girls names that have previously been considered:

Antonia
Beatrice
Caroline
Olivia

we are no closer to a solution, tbh. Oh how about Maximilian? we can't use it as already used in close family, but works ok in both languages (I am that I can't use Macsen either, as so close to Maximilian - would that be an option?)

Julia? Stephanie? Christina?

Andreas? David? (Slight Welsh association).