German Names

Formal name lacking any sparkle or sheen.

Concise and clipped European version of the earnest Ernest.

A sophisticated girls' name for those attracted to Leona, Leonie and Leonore.

Photographer Newton...or that hard thing you wear on your head.

Another spelling of JANNIK, a John form that has a terminally Olde Worlde sound to the American ear.

This is a rarely heard multi-cultural name, related to a 14th century Jewish scholar named Kalonymous ben Kalonymous, who translated important texts from Arabic to Hebrew. It is also a Hungarian derivative of Colman, via the Latin Columba, meaning dove, and was the name of a 12th century king of Hungary. Its modern sound make it an interesting option.

Most famous as the name of King Pepin the Short, this choice might feel somewhat belittling. The even-shorter form is Pippin, a name adopted for musical theater, and the Dutch form Pepijn is in that country's Top 100.

Common French and German alternative to Renata.

Like other stylish choices from Roman to Romy to Romeo, Rohmer is a German surname that relates to both Roman pilgrims and the root word for fame.

A li'l hell-raiser name in the Ryder-Rogue-Rebel vein.

Heinz has become a cartoonish German name, prone to ketchup teasing.

Futuristic, in a 1930s kind of way.

A daring middle name possibility for classical concertgoers. Alternatives are Wolfgang and Amadeus.

Vill always sound as if you're pronouncing Walter with an affected accent.

Confessional memoirist Augusten Burroughs is the first literary notable to bear one of this family of names since the confessional saint.

In literature identified with The Sorrows of Young Werther -- not much to wish on a child.

The German name for girls Wylda was introduced to the world by British filmmaker/artist, director of Fifty Shades of Gray Sam Taylor-Wood and her actor husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who named their daughter Wylda Rae. Is that Wylda, which rhymes with Hilda, and might be found inhabiting a sod hut on the Kansas prairie in 1901? Or Wylda, sister of Wilder, destined for a future as a hell-raising singer in a rock band?