German Boy Names

One bright spot: famous namesake Threepenny Opera playwright Berthold (later known as Bertolt) Brecht.

Alard looks and sounds like the name of a romantic, medieval knight. It's dashing and unusual; but still easy to pronounce and spell. Cognate Adelard might also appeal if you are considering this name.

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

Though you might have been a fan of tennis star Chris Evert, stick with EVERETT, which everyone will think you're saying anyway.

A German surname name deriving from the same root as English Ryder. Traditionally, it was the name of the second lowest hereditary rank of the nobility, roughly equivalent to English Baronet. Notable associations are British actor Paul Ritter and a popular European chocolate brand.

Has a rather heavy surname feel.

Prospective parents tend to respond more to the softer American pronunciation than the harsher German one, and even more to the Scandinavian version (see GUNNAR).

Theodoric feels prehistoric, though with short form Theo one of the hottest names around, this old German names for boys may soon feel new again.

German philosopher and revolutionary socialist Karl Marx will be most people's immediate association with this uncommon name. The author of The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital is widely considered to be the father of international communism.

This is one of the least known or used of the Theo names, quite possibly because of its last syllable. In Samuel Butler's 1903 novel The Way of All Flesh, there is a clergyman character named Theobald Pontifex.

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

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.

This surname-name originated as a nickname for redheads.

Irrevocably tied to long-lived, controversial South Carolina senator Strom (born James) Thurman; Strom, which sounds like an anagram of Storm, was his mother's maiden name. With a stretch, you might consider this one of the German names for boysthat's also a nature name.

The way Wilhelm is pronounced anyway, so a pointless spelling variation.