Awesome German Names

Karin was a fairly popular spelling variation of Karen in the US but fell off the Top 1000 in the late 80s, as Karen's popularity wained. Today, the Karen meme interferes with the otherwise appealing sound of this name.

Manly almost to the point of macho.

Both Karla and Carla are sliding down the ranks, though Karla remains far more popular in the USA than Carla.

See CARSTEN.

German, Slavic and Scandinavian form of Clara, which is a Top 100 girl name in multiple European countries, including Austria, Croatia, Iceland and Poland.

Two drawbacks: some unpleasant World War II associations, and the Santa clause.

German, Scandinavian and Polish spelling of Konrad, borne by several German and Polish rulers throughout history, as well as the German chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

Krista may be past its peak -- along with all similar C-starting sisters and their K variations -- yet it's still a pretty name.

A name that defines itself, a bit more curt in the harder K version.

A foreign nickname name that has never been widely used here — possibly because of its similarity to the outdated male Lenny — it was chosen for her daughter by high-profile German supermodel Heidi Klum.

While we long dismissed Liesl as being stuck in the Alps with Heidi, the Nameberry community has forced us to reconsider. Yes, like Heidi, Liesl is an old German nickname-name that has never quite moved beyond its Alpine image. But the same thing might have been said of Elsa a few years ago, and many other names that once seemed inextricably tied to their countries of origin: think Enzo and Saoirse and Freya and Soren.

Lili has been blooming in many forms for a couple of decades now. The Lili version will surely get more attention now that the Duke and Duchess of Susses, aka Harry and Meghan, are using is as a short form for their daughter Lilibet Diana's name. Lili makes the slight and light though that is not necessarily a bad thing; it also mutes the name's floral identity and gives it a cute and quirky repetitive spelling, ala Coco and Lulu. A famous German song is titled Lili Marlene.