Quirky names that work in German

[JulieBindelHasAKindle]

Dp is German and I’m English and we are currently living in Italy but will be moving to the UK in the next 18 months. We’ve decided on Aloisa for a girl but are struggling to decide on a boys name. I always wanted to call my child Jude if they were a boy but it’s inappropriate in German. Names we like are as followed:

Karl (but it’s quite popular in Germany and I worry people will think of Marx)
Mies (dp wants this as it’s a family name however I don’t think it works in English)
Egon (I like but dp thinks it sounds too much like Elon)
Rainer (we both like but think it sounds tol American)
Wolf (we both like but worry it’s too ‘weird’ in English)

Names we can’t use: Otto, Rex, Rafael

@Whatsthepoint1234 interesting, dp’s father has sadly passed so there’s no easy way of finding out his full name!

There's an architect called Mies van der Rohe, who I believe is Dutch.

He was German, but Mies was his surname, first name Ludwig. I like Mies because I love the architect, but agree it’s not great if it means something unpleasant in German.

Slightly off topic but pp were right! We’ve just located his grandfather with the power of ancestry and it appears his birth name was Michiel. I presume Mies was a nickname but dp says that he was called it everywhere. Thank goodness for the knowledge of mumsnet…

John every time

Oh yes, of course! Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. <doh>

Clemens is more clay-mens (main emphasis on first syllable, v slight emphasis on the E in the second syllable) in German rather than cle[short E]muhns in English. I think Clemency is the usual feminine form, so there shouldn't be an issue with Clemens on that score.
(We are an English/German combo too and we thought we'd given our children pretty international names, but small differences in pronunciation, like the different sounds of vowels, continue to throw me)

I think once you've told people how to pronounce Jascha they'll be fine with it. What is it a diminutive for?

Just out of curiosity, seeing as you've picked Aloisa for a girl, does Alois not appeal for a boy? It does have quite a strong Bavarian association to my mind, so if I were from elsewhere I might not consider it, I suppose.

@ShoesoftheWorld I think it’s some variation on the Jacob/James tree of names from my understanding.

We did consider it however according to dp it sounds ‘too Austrian’ and is associated with Nazis in his mind.

That makes sense about your partners grandfather op, Mies is definitely more of a nickname or surname in the Netherlands. It’s like calling your child Ed or Liz as their full name.

I love Jascha, just your lad might have to spend his life spelling out his name to everyone!

Not sure about Clemens, it has an “old man” feeling to me.

Karl is classic. ❤️ And I know a very nice Florian, so love that name too (even though it is not on your shortlist)!

Ah, I must have been thinking of the French Clémence, which I adore. I didn’t realise the female version would be Clemency in English, never come across it.

There are loads of Karl's. Karl would be a fine name. I also immediately read Mies as Miles which works well in English too!

Another vote for Sebastian (Bastien)

Sascha, Ottfried, Linnaeus.

I find J names can be slightly problematic because of the different pronunciations between the two languages. I know a Joscha pronounced in the German way but alot of his English family insist on calling him Josh in the English way despite knowing that's not his name.

Would Rene be better than Reiner? Is a bit more international and slightly cooler. Or go full out with Reinhard. I like Reimo or Remco, although most of the Remco's I know are over 30

Arno
Finn
Ernst
Dustin
Jonas
Gerard
Herbert
Norman
Zane
Derek
Dennis

Sebastian
Max
Daniel

Work great in both countries

I am not keen on Karl/Carl. I think of a bloke in a tracksuit.

Rolf
Emil
Emmerich
Clemens
Jan

'Mies' as a word in modern (informal) German is an adjective/adverb meaning poor, crummy, lousy, rotten.

As a first name in Dutch/Flemish, I gather that it is a diminutive for 'Bartholomeus'.

Kai

Ralph
Nathan
Marcus
Daniel
Henry
Otis
Tobias

Karl is my son's middle name - chosen because it's a family name but also because it's quite a good cross-over name when you have an international family. Well, depending on the languages anyway. It works for ours and it's great for English/German.

I vote Karl! I think the K gives it a very different vibe to Carl somehow. More stylish.

That's interesting that Mies might be short for something. OP, is it possible to find out for sure whether Grandad was officially named Mies or whether it was a diminutive?

Jascha seems to be short for Jakob, so why not use Jakob? I like Clemens a lot, I think it's the best on your list. I agree with a pp that Karl was not seen as a classy name in the UK when we were young (and those Karls would be in their 50s now) plus the meaning of Karl/Charles isn't very inspiring, but it's a perfectly respectable choice IMO.

Our boys shortlist included:
Rafael (I blame this one on pregnancy hormones)
Linus
Alexander
Killian
Michael
Daniel
Hugo
Kai

Personally, I think Karl is awful and Mies makes me think of mice.