Moritzburg Castle, Germany Featured German Names: Alaric & Lorelei |
Prior to the late 19th century, Germany was a vast territory that saw major differences in the way baby names were given across the land and in different time periods. Traditionally, most boys in central and southern Germany in the 1700s were named Johann or Johannes. (Hans was big in the 1600s). Sometimes they would go by a middle name to differentiate between them. Similarly, girls tended to be named Maria or Anna.
In the north and northeast, children in the mid-1800s received anywhere from three to five given names. This was a sign of nobility. The more names a person had, the more important they would appear. In records, ministers would often underline the preferred name, and sometimes marriage licenses would have the names in a slightly different order than what was on the birth record. They may have even been simplified or spelled differently. Surnames weren't regularly used until the 1500s.
Up near Denmark in a place called Schelswig and a place called the duchy of Holstein, it was popular tradition to use patronymic names through to the 18th century. This means that most children were named for their fathers or grandfathers. For example, if a father was named Peter, his sons and daugthers would use the surname Petersen (and occasionally girls who were very near Denmark would follow those traditions and use Petersdatter as a surname instead). It wasn't until 1771 that this got to be rather confusing and a law was passed that required children to take a set surname, usually the same one their father had instead of basing a new one on his first name.
In Ostfriesland, which is in the northwestern corner of modern Germany, people followed a patronymic pattern that was very similar to that of their Dutch neighbors to the west. Instead of adding -sen or -datter to their father's name, boys and girls would simply add an -s. The confusing part about this tradition is that back in Schleswig most wives would take their husband's name and add -s to it. Depending on where you lived, your name would indicate whether you were the wife of Peter (in Schleswig and Denmark) or the daughter of Peter (in Ostfriesland).
As you can see, different areas had different customs that drew great influence from neighboring countries. Another example is that of the people of Westfalen which borders Hannover, Rheinland. Since medieval times, they had an entirely different naming method. Surnames were called Hofname or "farm-names". The family living on that particular farm would take that particular surname. If a daughter inherited the farm and married, her husband would change his name to that of her farm. His old name would be listed with his new surname with a phrase such as genannt, vulgo, modo, sive, or alias listed between them meaning he had one surname but was called by another.
Today, there are still some faint remnants of these patronymic systems but they don't tend to form a child's official name. Names consist of one or several usually gender-specific given names and a set surname. Women traditionally adopt their husband's surname and hyphenate it with their own.
Most first names in the past were very traditionally Germanic, or they were biblical. Examples include:
Boys: Carl Karl Wilhelm Otto Heinrich Friedrich Paul Hans Gustav Max Walter Walther Hermann Ernst Werner Heinz Curt Kurt Günter Günther Herbert Gerhard Helmuth Peter Claus Klaus Uwe Jürgen Dieter Horst Manfred Wolfgang Bernd Andreas Frank Stefan Jörg Torsten | Girls: Anna Martha Frieda Bertha Emma Maria Margarethe Erna Elsa Gertrud Hertha Käthe Elisabeth Hildegard Ilse Irmgard Gerda Lieselotte Elfriede Ursula Edith Helga Gisela Inge Ingrid Ingeborg Karin Renate Elke Monika Brigitte Angelika Sabine Martina Ute Keike Petra Birgit Anja |
Boys: Thomas Michael Marcus Christian Oliver Matthias Sebastian Daniel Martin Dennis Alexander Tobias Patrick Marcel Philipp Lucas Ben Finn Jonas Maximilian Felix Leon Louis | Girls: Nicole Claudia Stephanie Andrea Susanne Julia Melanie Sandra Nadine Christina Sabrina Sarah Jennifer Lisa Katharina Jessica Laura Leah Hannah Michelle Lara Lena Mia Sophia Leonie |
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When the children were baptized, they were most often given one first name that was a spiritual name honoring that special saint or relative, and they'd receive a middle name or a "call name." They would go by this call name most often. Often, children were all given the same first name such as the very popular Johann. Three brothers might have the following names:
Johann Heinrich Schmidt
Johann Wilhelm Schmidt
Johann Gustav Schmidt
They would be known as Heinrich, Wilhelm and Gustav. Girls would have a similar situation but most commonly with the first name Anna or Maria. This occurrence did not always happen though. It did depend on the family and when and where they lived.
There is no official statistics for baby names in Germany but Knud Bielefeld (publisher of firstnamesgermany.com) has analysed approximately 182,300 German birth notifications and compiled a list of the most popular baby names in 2013. Borrowing graciously from him, here are the Top 10:
1. Ben 2. Luca / Luka 3. Paul 4. Jonas 5. Finn / Fynn 6. Leon 7. Luis / Louis 8. Lukas / Lucas 9. Maximilian 10. Felix | 1. Mia 2. Emma 3. Hannah / Hanna 4. Sofia / Sophia 5. Anna 6. Lea / Leah 7. Emilia 8. Marie 9. Lena 10. Leonie |
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[Note: I do have German blood but I've never been to Germany and don't speak German. If any of this information seems incorrect, please let me know so I can fix it!]
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