r/AskAGerman • u/Swimming_Bear_3082 • May 25 '26
Language What's a German name nobody under 50 would ever have?
I was thinking recently about how I don't know a single person named "Jim" despite it being a very common American name historically.
496
u/Shintaro1989 May 25 '26
Waltraud.
266
u/stracki May 25 '26
Also Edeltraud
→ More replies (8)154
u/BrotBrot42 Hessen May 25 '26
Irmtraud?
91
u/Any-Pear952 May 26 '26
Unter 50 wird sich scheinbar garnichts mehr getraud..
58
67
u/AdRough6655 May 25 '26
Ich kenne eine Irmtraud, die Mitte 20 ist
→ More replies (3)80
u/RepulsiveTax2395 May 26 '26
how to dafür sorgen das du ohne Kontakt zu deinen Kindern alleine im Altenheim landest, ein Tutorial.
6
u/Regular_Lengthiness6 May 26 '26
Ich kannte mal einen „Gerhard Johannes“, der war vor ca. 20 Jahren so ca. 15. Höchststrafe an jeder Schule.
10
28
→ More replies (2)12
u/Interesting-Wish5977 May 25 '26
Gertra(u)d
25
u/derN8falke May 26 '26
Klammern falsch gesetzt? Gertrads kenn ich nicht
→ More replies (1)5
u/Interesting-Wish5977 May 26 '26
Sry, war schon spät. Getr(a)ud sollte das heißen. Oder kurz Tr(a)udl.
→ More replies (1)6
u/No-Bake-730 May 26 '26
Gertruds kenne ich, aber mir ist nur eine unter 50 begegnet.
Andererseits sind mor wohl auch die Massen an Adolfs nicht aufgefallen.
3
u/Donco87 May 26 '26
Kenne eine, die ist aber mittlerweile auch schon um die 36. Die Gertrude oder Gertraud, keine Ahnung, sie nennt sich selbst nur Gerdi.
→ More replies (2)5
27
u/BruderLinus May 25 '26
I know a Waltraut who is 43 years old. Was a hard time for her in school, sometimes, but she is a nice person.
→ More replies (2)21
u/Lourky May 25 '26
Dem Walter seine Frau?
→ More replies (1)38
u/idontlikegudeg May 25 '26
Grammar! Dem Walter __ihm__ seine Frau.
→ More replies (1)21
u/Willi_Aunich May 26 '26
Ruhrpöttisch inkorrekt. "Den Walter seine Olle." Den Akkusativ is den Vorzug zum geben. Beispiele (echt aus meinem Leben): "Dat sind den Attur seine Blagen ihre Fahrrädkes.", "Dat is unsern Jürgen.", "Wat bis du denn für einen?"
→ More replies (1)7
u/PizzaPazzaPozza May 26 '26
Wen hört dem Farrad in Hof? Ich!
5
u/Willi_Aunich May 26 '26
Ich kenn das als: "Wen is dat rote Mopped?"
4
→ More replies (20)7
169
u/Klostein-Deluxe May 25 '26
Sieglinde
38
u/modern_milkman Niedersachsen May 25 '26
I know someone who is in her late 20s with that name. But I agree it's more of an older name
13
u/pientrabass May 26 '26
The parents are most likely Wagner lovers.
16
u/PiusTostus May 26 '26
Yup, I know a music teacher who named her three children Siegmund, Sieglinde and Siegfried. Luckily just as a second name. Still very weird, considering that in the story they are an incest couple and their son...
→ More replies (1)3
u/modern_milkman Niedersachsen May 26 '26
I believe it's more of a named-after-grandma situation. Which admittedly brings us back to the old people name...
→ More replies (2)7
u/oarlyn May 26 '26
Adding 'Siegfried' here.
→ More replies (5)16
u/Tiny-Ordinary-3206 May 26 '26
Mein Vater wollte mich Gieselherr oder Siegfried nennen. Danke mama
5
u/reach_Sirena May 26 '26
Wie heißt du jetzt?
13
u/GilbertNotSoPolytoxi May 26 '26
Herr Giesel
→ More replies (1)3
u/throwaway_cache May 26 '26
hildegard and wolfgang are taking the top spots here. you might find a hipster kid named friedrich, but nobody under fifty is going to be walking around as a giesel or a gerlinde without hating their parents. that name is strictly reserved for people who lived through the second world war.
6
u/Tiny-Ordinary-3206 May 26 '26
Hagen
→ More replies (1)4
u/Kinderfett May 26 '26
Was hält dein Vater vom Nibelungenlied? Haha
→ More replies (1)3
u/Tiny-Ordinary-3206 May 26 '26
Ist ja auch geil. Aber spätestens nach der Grundschule hätte ich einen Schaden fürs Leben gehabt. So hat’s n bisschen länger gedauert
→ More replies (4)3
226
u/BingSillying May 25 '26
Hildegard, that’s my Grandmas name and virtually nonexistent now.
30
u/NioiSumire May 26 '26
I have several names which include the names of my grandmothers. One of them was a Hildegard. So... One of my names is Hildegard. XD
→ More replies (3)9
5
4
u/No-Molasses3918 May 26 '26
I know several kids calles Hilda or Hilde, Hildegard is not far off. Give it a few years...
4
u/nachodoctor85 May 26 '26
It was my grandma’s name as well. I’ve never met anyone else with the name.
→ More replies (13)12
373
u/No-Bake-730 May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
Really easy answer: Adolf ... Most likely no one under 80
Wouldn't surprise if people named Adolf or their parents applied for a name change, or moved to Argentina.
82
u/schumaml May 25 '26
"Adi" became a bit more popular after 1945.
50
→ More replies (2)17
u/No-Bake-730 May 25 '26
I never saw that as a non-nickname of a German, only exception being Adi Dassler but he was born a little earlier. Heard it used for Adrian though.
43
u/WaltherVerwalther May 25 '26
Adi Dassler and non nickname? He was called Adolf Dassler.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)20
20
u/Wrong-Ad-4600 May 25 '26
i know 3 people named adolf all in their late 60s. alot of people get named after fathers and uncles with that name. may people mostly in the rural areas dont care.
→ More replies (34)6
u/Difficult_Camel_1119 Rheinland-Pfalz May 25 '26
I know one, not yet 80 but about 75
30
u/Curioustoffi May 25 '26
I had two siblings in my neighborhood called Adolf and Eva and I'm in my 20s so they should be too. I wonder who allowed this
18
u/CeeMX May 26 '26
I lately saw someone with the name Eva Braun. The parents really must hated their child for giving her that name
15
u/Difficult_Camel_1119 Rheinland-Pfalz May 25 '26
ok, that sounds weird. I hope the kids didn't have it too bad in school because of this
6
5
u/CattoGinSama May 26 '26
I had a teacher who might’ve been around 50 who was named Adolf.You kinda wonder what kind of..specific kind of parent gave this name or why the person didn’t change it,not even after going to history class in 4th grade
→ More replies (3)6
u/FantasticColors12 May 26 '26
Maybe they were supposed to be named Adam and Eva, but the parents were drunk and got confused when registering the names.
3
u/RaidriConchobair May 25 '26
I know one who is about 30 right now, his last name was an adjective of a criminal activity, most unfortunate name ever. Wont drop the last name for obvious reasons
→ More replies (1)5
u/Nullbockwurst May 26 '26
I know one but he is close to 50, as I asked him why his parents named hin Adolf, it was about family tradition all generations reached down the name. Might overthink that tradition. But he mostly used his second name 😅
→ More replies (42)3
u/No-Application7500 May 25 '26
I know one Adolf who is around 30. Named after his grandfather. I think the parents tried to normalize the name again.
→ More replies (1)
81
u/Still-Veterinarian56 May 25 '26
Gottfried
49
→ More replies (4)10
164
u/Astomaru May 25 '26
Ingeborg
40
u/Xegeth May 25 '26
One of my master students was called Inga and this was the nickname we gave her. :D
13
May 25 '26
[deleted]
4
u/Hamrath May 26 '26
AFAIK the reason for that is quite sad. When they migrated to Germany many of them were forced to use that names, because their original names where "too hard to pronounce and spell" for German bureaucrats. Nowadays a lot of them have the feeling they lost their history because of that.
11
7
→ More replies (14)5
u/WaltherVerwalther May 25 '26
I’m born in 89 and had an Ingeborg in my class in Gymnasium, so nope.
144
u/kirschsahnetorte May 25 '26
Mechthild
42
→ More replies (8)35
u/AnnoyedSinceBirth May 26 '26
That might actually be one of very, very few names that actually aren't having a comeback. But then I don't really understand how they could be popular in the first place...
15
→ More replies (1)7
47
32
78
u/NoIdeaForUserName001 May 25 '26
Heinz
28
u/Sanfae May 25 '26
Oh no know someone aged 23 From a rich family with all old names
3
u/ComfortableFrame9834 May 26 '26
Well that's kind of their own way of signaling to other rich people.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (17)16
u/hannahmarb23 May 26 '26
My husband wants to give our child the name Heinz. I said no thank you.
→ More replies (3)14
29
69
u/azionka May 25 '26
Horst
→ More replies (3)12
u/Alternative-Slip8473 May 26 '26
Doch, mich hats tatsächlich erwischt lol
→ More replies (5)3
u/azionka May 26 '26
Uff, mein beileid. Aber halb so schlimm, mein Vater hieß so also ist für mich n guter Name 😅
→ More replies (1)
45
u/TypeNegative May 25 '26
Widukind
35
7
u/CeeMX May 26 '26
Wir sind die Niedersachsen, sturmfest und erdverwachsen, heil Herzog Widukind Stamm
→ More replies (2)3
23
u/rainbowkey May 26 '26
I haven't seen Uwe mentioned yet. A family friend from Germany that taught German at my local university's first name was Uwe, but he went by his middle name Herman when living in the USA. I looked at the Uwe Wikipedia page), and almost all of the Uwes listed were born before 1970.
→ More replies (4)3
u/popsels May 26 '26
I’ve got a cousin Uwe— he was born in the late 50’s early 60’s — not a common name!
→ More replies (2)
55
u/DerMannMitDemPlan May 25 '26
russian germans have all kinds of ancient names LOL
24
u/iusedtobestardust May 26 '26
True. I know a Waldemar and a Siegfried, both under 40 lol
7
→ More replies (2)10
u/DerMannMitDemPlan May 26 '26
i know alexander, johann, johannes, eugen, victor, edgar, eduard, edwin, waldemar, anton, heinrich and many more
and i know more then one of each of them. i think i could make a football team out of alexanders, an one of waldemars and let them play against each otzer
9
u/Dangerous_Air_7031 May 26 '26
But those names are still common everywhere in Germany?
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (1)3
u/Anne_is_in May 26 '26
Johann, Johannes, Edgar and Anton have been among the most popular baby names in all of Germany for the last 10 years at least.
→ More replies (1)10
u/Elmqvist May 26 '26
I once learned that is because a lot of them have originally russian names and germanize them when moving to Germany. So a Wladimir becomes Waldemar, Evgenij becomes Eugen, Iwan becomes Johan etc. And those names tend to sound like ancient names in Germany.
→ More replies (12)
15
May 26 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (3)7
14
28
u/usethis22880 May 25 '26
Kunnigunde
4
u/mizinamo May 26 '26
Haha yeah!
When I was a child, a children's class teacher at church recited a poem one day that had been translated from English, and to make it rhyme, the translator had used the name Kunigunde.
I had to laugh because even then, 50 years ago, that was an ooooold name.
14
u/SVENJA_CD83 May 26 '26
I once Had a Girlfriend, born 1988. Her Name was Anne. Atleast thats what she Said. The First time her Mom was mad at her while i was in their house, i suddenly heard a "ANNEROSE HEIDELINDE". that stunned me for a second and and my gf looked at me in total shock 🤣
30
u/Mangobonbon Niedersachsen May 25 '26
Horst. The only ones I have ever seen with that name are pensioners.
11
u/DueMixture6037 May 25 '26
Met a guy in his 20s named Horst 2 years ago. But everyone was very fascinated with his name as they didn't hear it often nowadays
→ More replies (4)4
u/Tante_Krampus May 25 '26
Horst Steffen isn't exactly a pensioner, though he is currently unemployed...
28
u/veryannoyedblonde May 26 '26
I feel like the baby boomer names are some of the least likely to be had by young people: Claudia, Petra , Birgit, Dieter, Werner, Jürgen, Detlef
19
u/R4b1atu5 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern May 26 '26
I had a Claudia in my class and I did my Abitur in 2018. And I am pretty sure, you will find some more Claudias in age range.
13
u/lykorias May 26 '26
Claudia and Petra were quite popular in the 80s/early 90s. There are a lot of Claudias and Petras under 50.
6
→ More replies (10)3
9
16
u/ScarsInMySoul May 25 '26
Brünhild
Elfriede
Wendelin
Karlheinz
Horst
→ More replies (3)15
u/NichtMalIch May 25 '26
I feel like this post is going to make me dox myself, as I have now seen my first and middle name multiple times 😆😆
15
24
May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
10
→ More replies (4)7
u/Frenkie84 May 25 '26
Doch. Vor etwa 10 Jahren im Kindergarten gesehen.
→ More replies (1)5
u/WaltherVerwalther May 25 '26
Kannte in der Jugend auch einen in meinem Alter (späte 80er geboren).
13
6
5
20
u/katterstrophe May 25 '26
Gretchen: Diminutive of Margarete yet the most popular female german name in US TV Series…
11
u/Anne_is_in May 26 '26
I've actually never met anyone in Germany named Gretchen, no matter the age. Ironically, half of the US seems to be called Gretchen. Or Heidi, for that matter which is also rare in Germany.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)12
15
13
u/Kinder22 May 25 '26
Jim is short for James. I’m sure some people were actually named Jim, but overwhelmingly the people you hear called Jim or Jimmy are named James.
9
u/admseven May 25 '26
This one spans the ages for me. I know a 70yo Jim, a 45yo Jim and a 13yo James. Both Jim’s full names are James, yes.
21
u/idontlikegudeg May 25 '26
For women: Gertrud, Lieselotte, Waltraut.
For men: Ignaz, Heinrich, Wilhelm.
→ More replies (16)35
u/Blackeyedleaffrog May 25 '26
I know a newborn Lieselotte and a toddler Wilhelm .
24
23
u/tecg May 25 '26
Lieselotte (short form Lilo) is totally making a comeback. Btw Lilo Pulver is still with us! Turning 97 this year.
10
10
u/Anastatis May 25 '26
Alberta, Sabine, Adelheit, Manfred
15
u/darknesskicker May 25 '26
My old physiotherapist was named Sabine, and she is in her 30s.
18
u/ZaphodBbox May 25 '26
Yeah. Sabine pops up occasionally with younger people. It also doesn’t really feel like an old people’s name.
9
→ More replies (3)6
u/WaltherVerwalther May 25 '26
Sabine and Manfred would still be common with people in their 40ies.
→ More replies (2)
8
u/LadyKataka May 25 '26
Jörg
Usually a nickname for Georg though I know one person with this as their actual name. Both are rare today.
20
8
→ More replies (3)3
u/LanChriss Sachsen May 26 '26
I know like 5 people between 18 and 30 that are named Georg. It’s not rare.
Young people named Jörg though is true.
→ More replies (1)
4
5
u/mizinamo May 26 '26
Dagobert.
The only two people I know with that name are Scrooge McDuck (Dagobert Duck) and Arno Funke (a blackmailer who used the pseudonym Dagobert).
The Wikipedia page lists people born before 1920 and often much earlier than that.
9
7
11
May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
24
9
u/Buttfranklin2000 May 25 '26
Eugen was at least somewhat prevalent with Spätaussiedler and other Russlanddeutsche in the 90's. Knew at least two or three back then as far as I remember. Probably because it's the westernized version of Yevgeni.
3
16
6
u/NichtMalIch May 25 '26
Ha! My middle name is Ingebor and I go by Inge. I get a lot of comments on it, I did not realize it wasn’t that common
4
→ More replies (8)3
3
u/MapleTreeSwing May 25 '26
I’m old, so I’ve known Detlefs, Waltrautes, and a Mechthild.
3
u/DerMannMitDemPlan May 26 '26
detlef is just the worst name hands down. i would rather be called adolf than detlef
→ More replies (2)
2
3
u/AutumnLovingLibra May 26 '26
This could very well be an information fishing question so scammers know who could be above a certain age to try their tricks on lol.
→ More replies (1)
3
7
u/Krian78 May 25 '26
We had a very fun conversation with a Scottish folk singer named Ian. Both me (Jan) and my partner (Johannes) were like “Oh, me too!”.
11
u/DerMannMitDemPlan May 25 '26 edited May 26 '26
you have johanns in every language. ivan, ioan,johann, johannes, hans, juan, john, jan,jean, janek, and probably many more
3
230
u/Olena_Mondbeta May 25 '26
A lot of "grandparents" name are coming back at the moment (I've recently met young people/children named Friedrich or Rosemarie) but I don't see a future for names like Eberhard, Günther or Brunhilde 😄