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Old fashioned German boys' names?

96 replies

CantThinkOfANC · 25/11/2013 22:34

DP and I have decided TTC in a few months and are having a good-natured bicker about what to call our DC. He is German, I am English and we live in the UK. For the time being (at least ten years) we will stay here.

His favourite name, Finn, was taken by his best friends back home six years ago. He would like very old, Germanic names that no one has heard of and I am stumped. Either they are ridiculous (Adalhard anyone?) or 'too modern', e.g. Max (although I know it's an old name but it's popular now).

He doesn't want: modern, popular, anything that his uncles/close male relatives were called.

I like (and he has vetoed): Karl, Max, Edward, Edmund, Oskar, Georg.

I am beginning to wonder if anything fits the bill? It's all highly theoretical, but good fun :)

Girl's name is sorted as my favourite for many, many years is Dorothea and I won't be budged/he's given in.

I've seen some excellent suggestions on here before - any ideas please? My prime motivation is that I suspect he is actually serious and I'd like to find some names that won't lead to our child(ren) getting bullied the second they go to school! I also have a name no one can spell and it's dead annoying. Don't want to lumber my kids with the same.

OP posts:
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Sparrowghost · 25/11/2013 23:31

Werner (pronounced verner)
Reinhardt
Hans
Erwin
Heinrich
Johann
Anton
Wolfgang
Joachim
Ambros
Falco
Einhard
Emil
Gerold
Emerich
Erkenbald/Erkenbert/Erkenfried
Gerbold
Gottbert
Gerolf
Hartlieb
Hartwig
Walter/Walther
Waldebert
Wernfried

What about names from his family tree?

ancientbuchanan · 25/11/2013 23:35

DH points out that a) Herrmann is the oldest German name is it is really Arminius, the Roman General who was up there, and b) it goes really well with Dorothea as Goethe wrote a book called Herrmann und Dorothea.

I love Dorothea too, both English and German. My DGM was Dorothea.

Rosieliveson · 25/11/2013 23:36

Is Erik German or old enough?

frogs · 25/11/2013 23:37

Kaspar
Konrad
Gerhard (very old-mannish though)
Günther (ditto)
Lothar (pronounced Loh-tar)
Walther
Anton
Ferdinand
Eberhard
Bernhard (or Berndt)
Alois (very catholic/bavarian, though)
Albrecht (ditto)
Arthur
Cornelius
Constantin/Konstantin

The trouble with very Germanic names is they went out of fashion for a reason - for people born in the 30s and 40s you can pretty much tell their parents' politics from the names. So lots of the really Wagner-esque Germanic names are likely to have bad connotations in Germany.

There are some specifically north German names which manage the Germanic thing without sounding fascist - I know a Timo, Tils, Tilmann, Malik for eg.

Hardrockhallelujah · 25/11/2013 23:37

I love Otto - my DP vetoed it for my DS unfortunately :-(

telsa · 25/11/2013 23:46

Goetz
Heinrich
August
Erdmut
Adalbert
Clemens
Gottlieb
Botho
Ludwig

Cremolafoam · 26/11/2013 00:04

Jürgen

Ham69 · 26/11/2013 00:16

German boys I know;
Finn
Finlay
Oskar
Matthias
Luca
Magnus

Oodyouthinkyouare · 26/11/2013 00:20

Helmuth

Footle · 26/11/2013 00:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsTwgtwf · 26/11/2013 01:05

Gustav.

Gobbolinothewitchscat · 26/11/2013 01:43

Nico
Karsten
Moritz

BaronessBomburst · 26/11/2013 09:58

Alarick

ArabellaBeaumaris · 26/11/2013 12:14

Is Tassilo a German name?

TheNunsOfGavarone · 26/11/2013 19:38

I found this site of German names by popularity from the 1890s through to the present day. Fascinating browsing!

www.beliebte-vornamen.de/3741-1890er-jahre.htm

StellaLuna82 · 26/11/2013 20:03

I love Otto, it is actually on my list, although I do have one reservation - does it sound in English too much like what you might say to a child: 'otto!' when you make a mistake?

thegreylady · 26/11/2013 20:13

My dh's cousin has dgs named Heinrich, Erich and Lukas. They are German and live in Germany.

Ilovekittyelise · 26/11/2013 20:20

some good suggestions; just makes me a bit edgy that you are so excited about names and its not always that straightforward to get, and stay pregnant; hope it worksout though.

HectorVector · 26/11/2013 20:22

Jan
Otto
Peter
Hans
Uwe
Thomas
Roland
Walter
Valentin
Torben
Till
Thorsten
Florian
Lukas
Dietmar

That exhausted my knowledge of German names completely.

notquitenormal · 26/11/2013 20:31

All of the German men I know:
Florian
Juergen
Tomas
Josef
Franz
Rainer
Ulric
Michael
Peter
Benno
Frank
Thorsten
Gero
Boris
Andre
Heiner

The youngest and nicest person is Benno :)

MummyBeerest · 26/11/2013 20:46

OMG I love Benno!

I met a baby Hendrik the other day. Is that more Scandinavian?

Varya · 26/11/2013 20:49

Otto
Wolfgang
Adolf
Axel
Hanz

Rumplestiltskinismyname · 26/11/2013 20:54

Please call any child you have Lars. I love the name! It's old but cool IMO!

mellicauli · 26/11/2013 21:01

My German grandfather was Otto Gustav Maximilian. A hefty burden for a baby to hear, I always thought!

DorrisM · 26/11/2013 21:05

Kurt?