German Names

The enduring form of Nicholas in countries that speak predominantly Germanic languages.

Noah is nearly a patriarch of popular baby names at this point, going from Old Testament graybeard to Top 10 name in 2009, hitting Number 1 in 2013, and now settled into second place in the US for the past seven years.

Nora is a lovely, refined name that conjures up images of Belle Epoch ladies in fur-trimmed coats skating in Central Park. Long seen as a quintessentially Irish name though its roots are not in Ireland, Nora is a quietly stylish favorite that's tiptoed to the top of the popularity ladder.

Oskar is to Oscar as Jakob is to Jacob: more distinctive and continental.

Soft name in the Mia-Nia-Tia family, Pia is heard in both European and Hindi languages.

Energetic, sunny, and slightly romantic, Rafael is a popular choice in Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Croatia. Used internationally, Rafael is a Spanish variation of Raphael, that lends itself easily to the nicknames Rafi, Rafa and Rafe.

Strong and solid, with a touch of foreign intrigue, it's the most popular of the rain-related names, with a variety of pronunciations—RAY-na, rah-EE-na, or RY-na. Alternate spellings Reyna and Rayna currently rank higher in the US.

The aristocratic--if not haughty--Roderick was nevertheless consistently in the Top 1000, reaching as high as Number 221 in 1967, when it was not uncommon to run into a Rod or a Roddy. It's at a low point right now, but we can envision it being revived as a neglected, dignified grandpa name, perhaps when Rod is no longer a potentially embarrassing nickname..

Sarah was derived from the Hebrew word sarah, meaning "princess." Sarah is an Old Testament name—she was the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. According to the Book of Genesis, Sarah was originally called Sarai, but had her name changed by God to the more auspicious Sarah when she was ninety years old.

Simon is pure and simple (not in the nursery rhyme sense), and an appealingly genuine Old and New Testament name that's not overused. These factors make Simon a stylish yet classic choice.

Sofia is a variation of the Greek name Sophia, which was derived directly from sophia, the Greek word for wisdom. It was the name of a Roman saint—the mother of Faith, Hope, and Charity—and queens of Russia and Spain.

Streamlined spelling of Sophie popular in several European nations.

If you wanted to try to get people to pronounce your son's first name the way Stephen Curry does, this might be a way to do it.

Terrell feels like a modern invention based on Terrence, but Tyrrell has plenty of history as a surname name.

See the popularity graph below for the name Theo? It's been heading straight uphill since 2010, when it hopped back onto the Top 1000 after a 60+ year absence.

The modern name Till is in the German Top 100. Used in contemporary terms on its own, it's traditionally a short form of names beginning with Diet such as Deitrich, which is itself a form of Theodoric. Because of its English word equivalent, it's a bit slight to ever make it as a standalone name in the English-speaking world.

The pronunciation may be slightly different—toe-MAHS—though some parents use this as a phonetic spelling of Thomas.