German Names

For Sam-lovers who want to make a slight detour off that well-traveled road.

In the US, Emmanuel has held steady around the Top 200 for a quarter century now, but this variation has dropped off the Top 1000 for three of the past seven years. It was Number 974 in 2016.

Obscure form of an old-fashioned favorite that's poised to make a comeback. This version, which owes as much to Alison as to Louisa, has a stylish A beginning and a multi-syllabic feminine grace.

The memorable folk singer, an early single-name celeb, brought this into the spotlight. The French variation is Odette.

A medieval German saint's name which remained popular in Germany until the middle of the 20th century. It is still in relatively wide use in other European countries, including Poland and Hungary. With other Bert names – like Robert and Albert and even Gilbert – appealing to lovers of strong, traditional boy names with a slightly clunky charm, Norbert could be one of those so-out-it's-in choices that everyone knows, but almost no one is using.

Rilla dropped out of the US Top 1000 in 1915, but it's starting to feel like an intriguing possibility again in this age of short, sweet, a-ending names for girls. It is traditionally a short form for names ending in -rilla, like Marilla from the Anne of Green Gables books (Anne's youngest daughter is Bertha Marilla, called Rilla for short). Rilla may also derive from the German word Rille, meaning "brook; stream".

A little too close to Cruella.

Kiefer is a strong occupational surname associated with "24" star Kiefer Sutherland, but one that could well join the other 'er' surnames currently in favor. Keifer is a German surname transferred to first name use, derived from two old Germanic words, kien and forhe, both of which mean "pine tree."

Bardo has a poetic beginning and upbeat ending, with roots in several diverse cultures. It may be most familiar today via George Saunders' novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which refers to the Tibetan Buddhist state of suspension between one life and the next, resembling the Christian idea of Limbo. Bardo is also an ancient saint's name: Saint Bardo was the eleventh century bishop of Mainz, in Germany. Actress Sandra Bullock chose Bardo as her son's middle.

See CARSTEN.

Meret is an interesting name found in several cultures. In Egyptian mythology, she was a goddess associated with singing, dancing and rejoicing and her meaning is 'beloved.' But the name also has significance in Hebrew, Danish and Norwegian. Close relatives include Merete and Maret.

Many popular Dutch short forms are drawn from the middle or end of their proper name: Sanne from Susanne, Bas from Sebastian. Jette could be from a name like Henriette or Mariette.

Amory is best known for the hero of Fitzgerald's 1920 This Side of Paradise, Princeton student Amory Blaine. Amory is in some danger of being borrowed by the girls, a la Avery. Alternate spellings Amori or Amorie also relate to the Latin word for love.

Some music-minded parents might consider this especially as a middle name, to honor the great Austrian composer.

A short form of Elisabeth, similar in sound to the 60s favorite Lisa.

Also spelled Sigfrid, this hefty German name has an appropriately majestic meaning: "victorious peace". Fittingly, a famous bearer was the English World War I poet and pacifist Siegfried Sassoon. Sassoon was named after the hero of a Wagner opera, which in turn was based on a tragic hero from German legend.

Reversed vowels make it seem less fierce.

Fans of writer Paul Auster might consider this a worthy alternative to the trendy Austin.

Nicknames ending in o are invariably cute, though this one is a boys' name in its own right. And not just any boy name, but a saint's name no less. Saint Hanno, aka Saint Anno, was an 10th century archbishop of Cologne, He is also known as, less attractively, Hanno of Worms, which is one of the oldest cities in Germany.