German Favorites

Cute tomboyish diminutive that's popular in Germany but has not spread far. An interesting choice for the parent who wants an elaborate feminine proper name with a modern short form.

If you love Dixie, Trixie and Pixie, this name of a mermaid-like sprite in German folklore may be for you. It might also make an update for Nicki.

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.

European royal name, and to Americans a place-name evoking the majestic mountain in Washington state.

Severin is an ancient Roman family name borne by several early saints. It's still alive throughout Europe, and could be ready for import here. Severin Winter is a wrestling prodigy character in John Irving's The 158-Pound Marriage and, in its original Latin form, Severus Snape appears in Harry Potter.

Also spelled Zilke, Silke is a common German short form for variations of Cecilia and Celia.

A straightforward, down-to-earth nickname many Walters, from Whitman to Disney, have chosen to go by.

Zinnia is an unusual floral choice with a bit more edge and energy than most and beginning to find its way onto namers' wish lists of botanical possibilities. Named after an eighteenth German botanist called Johann Gottfried Zinn, it appears in Roald Dahl's Matilda as the young protagonist's mother.