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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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AngiBolen · 26/11/2013 21:06

Kurt
Rolf
Franz
Erik
Felix
Oswold
Lukas
Bruno
Huggo
Otto - love it!
Jonas - This is what I'd go for.

AngiBolen · 26/11/2013 21:07

I agree, Lars is very cool. I was thinking this only yesterday.

AngiBolen · 26/11/2013 21:08

Oh, and Boris is lovely!!!!

MissWimpyDimple · 26/11/2013 21:11

My relatives are

Harald
Fritz (Friedrich)
Helmut
Stefan
Markus
Boris
Klaus
Sören
Martin
Hans
Leo
Heinrich
Freddi
Berndt
Torsten
Georg
Harald
Thomas
Walter

That's about as old fashioned as you can get Wink

TheNunsOfGavarone · 26/11/2013 21:18

Mellicauli - Otto Gustav Maximilian is a fantastic name! It sounds like a prince. I don't think Otto is too much for a baby and surely they wouldn't have used the whole caboodle all at once....... would they? If you don't mind I may consider it when the time comes for me to adopt a new cat, assuming the cat was agreeable to the idea!

CantThinkOfANC · 26/11/2013 21:54

Some of these are brilliant, thank you :) I love German names so I'm glad I have an excuse!

Ilovekitty I know, and thanks for your good wishes. I'm going to save this list and keep it for when it's needed :) One of the reasons we have finally decided on a date rather than 'sometime in the future' is that some very close friends have been trying for a long time and it made us realise that we too needed to get a move on. The close friends told us last week that they have finally got a bfp (there are practical reasons why they told us so early on) and we all nearly cried when they told us - it got a bit emotional as it's been a long time coming.

OP posts:
Footle · 26/11/2013 22:09

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mellicauli · 26/11/2013 22:10

I am so pleased that Otto Gustav Maximilian is to be used again..it is a name if substance as you rightly point out!

TheNunsOfGavarone · 26/11/2013 22:26

Glad you like the idea - I hope the cat does too Grin

jkklpu · 26/11/2013 22:33

Ekkehard
Eberhard
Albrecht
Carl-Heinz
Hans-Wolf
Ruediger

strongsinglemumlookingforfun · 26/11/2013 22:41

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ozymandiusking · 26/11/2013 22:42

Rainer pronounced Riner

strongsinglemumlookingforfun · 26/11/2013 22:58

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EspressoMonkey · 27/11/2013 07:52

Ludo
Axl

celestialsquirrels · 27/11/2013 08:21

Florian

abear · 27/11/2013 08:29

Felix

mrswarbouys · 27/11/2013 08:43

Fritz

TinyTear · 27/11/2013 08:48

a friend of mine has a Ludwig

Catzenobia · 27/11/2013 14:32

I have an Otto. Think it is a fantastic name and according to my German friend v v old-fashioned, but it suits DS.

BanjoPlayingTiger · 27/11/2013 14:36

What about Augustus?

Weegiemum · 27/11/2013 14:38

My dh is from an english/German family.

Family names (including his) are Peter, Paul, Jurgen, Hans, Heinz, Gunther.

interregnum · 27/11/2013 14:42

Can't believe Varya suggested Adolf, sure there was a reason that name
fell out of favour.

TheNunsOfGavarone · 27/11/2013 20:38

racks brains to think of why that might be.

The trend for Adolf is quite interesting in the German boys name site I linked (or tried to link above). It seems to have peaked in popularity in the 1890s and 1900s but by the time of Hitler's rise to power it struggles to make the top 30. From there it falls off a cliff halfway through the war, hopefully never to rise again. It's very hard to look at it objectively - I don't think it's a very nice name and certainly not when compared with some of the wonderful names suggested on this thread, but is that because of the inextricable link with Hitler?

One dodgy name that was almost constantly at the top in the 20s and 30s is Horst. But so was the inoffensive sounding (to me at least) Hans, which seems to be completely out of fashion now. Did Hans acquire something of a Nazi aura or is it just an unglamorous old man's name equivalent to Norman or Ronald in this country?

Ilovekittyelise · 27/11/2013 21:08

sorry i re read and realised it might sound a bit negativeand i realise its just lighthearted and a fun and exciting time, a close friend of mine has had a long journey which makes me not want others to go through all the hope and sadness she has (which is extremely unlikely!)

Frikadellen · 27/11/2013 22:26

Hannes
Hans Christian
Friedrich
Ludweig
Albrecht
Heinrich
Emil

Or have a look here

family tree of german royals ALL dead :)