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in German-speaking Europe consist of one or several ( Vorname, plural Vornamen) and a surname ( Nachname, Familienname). The Vorname is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the "Name order" of "given name, surname". The most common exceptions are alphabetized list of surnames, e.g. "Bach, Johann Sebastian", as well as some official documents and spoken southern German dialects. In most of this, the German conventions parallel the naming conventions in most of Western and Central Europe, including English name, Dutch name, Italian name, and French name. There are some vestiges of a patronymic system as they survive in parts of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, but these do not form part of the official name.
Women traditionally adopted their husband's name upon marriage and would occasionally retain their maiden name by , in a so-called Doppelname, e.g. "Else Lasker-Schüler". Recent legislation motivated by gender equality now allows a married couple to choose the surname they want to use, including an option for men to keep their birthname hyphenated to the common family name in the same way. It is also possible for the spouses to do without a common surname altogether and to keep their birthnames.
The most common given names are either Biblical name ("Christian name", derived from names of Biblical characters or saints; Johann/Hans "John", Georg/Jörg "George", Jakob "Jacob" and "James"; Anna, Maria, Barbara, Christina) or from ( Friedrich "Frederick", Ludwig "Louis", etc.) Since the 1990s, there has however been a trend of parents picking non-German forms of names, either for originality, or influenced by international celebrities, e.g. Liam (Gaelic form of William) rather than the German equivalent Wilhelm and Mila.
Most surnames are derived either from given names (patronym), occupations, or from geographical origin, less often from bodily attributes. They became heritable with the beginning of central demographic records in the early modern period.
the underlining of Emmy communicates that this is the Rufname, even though it is the second of two official given names.
In Germany, the chosen name must be approved by the local Standesamt (civil registry office). Although a 1980 law previously stated that the name must indicate the gender of the child, a 2008 court ruling unanimously upheld the right of parents to decide their child's name, stating that the only legal limitation is that the name does not negatively affect the well-being of the child.
Among German nobility, a fashion arose in the early modern period to give a large number of forenames, often six or more. This fashion was to some extent copied by the Bourgeoisie, but subsided again after the end of the 19th century, so that while two or three forenames remain common, a larger number is now rare. The practice persists among German nobility, e.g. Johann Friedrich Konrad Carl Eduard Horst Arnold Matthias, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen, Duke of Saxony (b. 1952), Ernst August Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian-Ludwig, Prince of Hanover (b. 1954), Christian Heinrich Clemens Paul Frank Peter Welf Wilhelm-Ernst Friedrich Franz Prince of Hanover and Dukelin, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg (b. 1985).
The following table gives the most popular given names in Germany for every tenth year (since 1890). firstnamesgermany.com, beliebte-vornamen.de; see also Statistik Austria ; Swiss Federal Statistical Office ; German Wiktionary, German Wiktionary.
| Masculine | ||
| 1890 | Anna, Martha / Marta, Frieda / Frida, Berta / Beertha, Emma, Marie, Maria, Margarethe / Margarete, Erna, Elsa | Carl / Karl, Wilhelm, Otto, Heinrich, Friedrich, Paul, Hans, Gustav, Max, Ernst |
| 1900 | Anna, Martha / Marta, Frieda / Frida, Emma, Marie, Elisabeth, Maria, Berta / Bertha, Gertrud, Margarethe / Margarete | Wilhelm, Carl / Karl, Heinrich, Hermann, Friedrich, Paul, Otto, Ernst, Hans, Walter / Walther |
| 1910 | Gertrud, Erna, Martha / Marta, Hertha / Herta, Margarethe / Margarete, Anna, Käthe, Elisabeth, Frieda / Frida, Hildegard, | Walter / Walther, Carl / Karl, Hans, Wilhelm, Otto, Curt / Kurt, Heinrich, Hermann, Paul, Helmut / Helmuth |
| 1920 | Ilse, Hildegard, Gertrud, Irmgard, Gerda, Lieselotte, Elfriede, Ursula, Edith, Erna | Hans, Carl / Karl, Heinz, Curt / Kurt, Werner, Walter / Walther, Günter / Günther, Herbert, Helmut / Helmuth, Gerhard, Rolf |
| 1930 | Ursula, Helga, Gisela, Inge, Gerda, Ingrid, Ingeborg, Ilse, Edith, Hildegard | Günter / Günther, Hans, Carl / Karl, Heinz, Werner, Gerhard, Horst, Helmut / Helmuth, Walter / Walther, Curt / Kurt, Rolf |
| 1940 | Karin, Ingrid, Helga, Renate, Elke, Ursula, Erika, Christa, Gisela, Monika | Peter, Klaus / Claus, Hans, Jürgen, Dieter, Günter / Günther, Horst, Manfred, Uwe, Wolfgang |
| 1950 | Brigitte, Renate, Karin, Angelika, Monika, Ursula, Ingrid, Marion, Barbara, Gisela, Regina | Peter, Hans, Wolfgang, Klaus / Claus, Manfred, Jürgen, Michael, Bernd, Werner, Günter / Günther |
| 1960 | Sabine, Susanne, Petra, Birgit, Gabriele, Andrea, Martina, Ute, Heike, Angelika | Thomas, Michael, Andreas, Peter, Frank, Uwe, Klaus / Claus, Stefan / Stephan, Jürgen, Jörg |
| 1970 | Nicole, Anja, Claudia, Stefanie / Stephanie, Andrea, Tanja, Katrin / Catrin / Kathrin, Susanne, Petra, Sabine | Stefan / Stephan, Michael, Andreas, Thomas, Frank, Markus / Marcus, Christian, Oliver, Matthias, Torsten |
| 1980 | Julia, Katrin / Catrin / Kathrin, Stefanie / Stephanie, Melanie, Sandra, Anja, Nicole, Nadine, Christina, Sabrina | Christian, Michael, Sebastian, Stefan / Stephan, Jan, Daniel, Martin, Dennis, Alexander, Thomas |
| 1990 | Julia, Sarah / Sara, Jennifer, Katharina, Lisa, Christina, Jessika / Jessica, Anna, Laura, Melanie | Jan, Tobias, Christian, Alexander, Daniel, Patrick, Dennis, Sebastian, Marcel, Philipp |
| 2000 | Anna, Lea / Leah, Sarah / Sara, Hannah / Hanna, Michelle, Laura, Lisa, Lara, Lena, Julia | Lukas / Lucas, Jan, Tim, Finn / Fynn, Leon, Niklas / Niclas, Tom, Jonas, Jannik / Yannik / Yannick / Yannic, Luca / Luka |
| 2010 | Mia, Hannah / Hanna, Lena, Lea / Leah, Emma, Anna, Leonie / Leoni, Lilli / Lilly / Lili, Emily / Emilie, Lina | Leon, Lukas / Lucas, Ben, Finn / Fynn, Jonas, Paul, Luis / Louis, Maximilian, Luca / Luka, Felix |
| 2020 | Mia, Emilia, Hannah / Hanna, Emma, Sofia / Sophia, Lina, Ella, Mila, Clara, Lea / Leah | Noah / Noa, Ben, Mateo / Matteo / Matheo / Mattheo, Finn / Fynn, Leon, Elias / Elyas, Paul, Henry / Henri, Luis / Louis, Felix |
With family names originating locally, many names display particular characteristics of the local dialects, such as the south German, Austrian and Swiss diminutive endings -l -el, -erl, -le or -li as in Kleibl, Schäuble or Nägeli (from 'Nagel', nail). The same is true for regional variants in the naming of professions. While a barrel-maker from Hamburg may have been called "Böttcher", a could easily have been called "Schäffler".
The Jewish surname of the German Jews are a special case, as they were introduced later, in the late 18th to early 19th century, per fiat.1787 in the Duchy of Austria, in Prussia beginning 1790, 1813 in Bavaria, 1828 in Württemberg, 1834 in Saxony, see Jewish surname. The Prussian authorities imposed made-up and sometimes derogatory names. For instance, the name "Waldlieferant" (lit.: forest supplier) was "created" to ridicule a Jewish timber trader. Even way more offensive expressions ("Afterduft"; lit.: anus odour) were in use. This is by no means the rule, though; on the contrary, those surnames most quickly recognized as probably Jewish in origin are distinctly poetical ones, probably as they were made-up choices by the people themselves (e.g. Rosenzweig).
Immigration, often sponsored by local authorities, also brought foreign family names into the German-speaking regions. Depending on regional history, geography and economics, many family names have French language, Dutch language, Italian language, Hungarian or Slavic languages (e.g. Polish language) origins. Sometimes they survived in their original form; in other cases, the spelling would be adapted to German (the Slavic language ending ic becoming the German -itz or -itsch or Baltic language "-kis" becoming "-ke"). Over time, the spelling often changed to reflect native German pronunciation ( Sloothaak for the Dutch Sloothaag); but some names, such as those of French Huguenots settling in Prussia, retained their spelling but with the pronunciation that would come naturally to a German reading the name: Marquard, pronounced in French, ended up being pronounced much like the German Markwart from which it was originally derived.
A few examples of the practice under German law, if "Herr (Mr) Schmidt" and "Frau (Miss) Meyer" marry: Das Namensrecht – Doppelname, Geburtsname, Familienname. Familienrecht-ratgeber.de. Retrieved on 2011-11-01.
All children of a family have to receive the same non-hyphenated Nachname at birth, which may be either the mother's or the father's Nachname (traditionally it was the father's). If the parents adopted an Ehename this is the Nachname of the child. It is strictly forbidden to give children Doppelnamen if it is not the Ehename. Das Bundesverfassungsgericht . Bundesverfassungsgericht.de. Retrieved on 2011-11-01. The latter case can arise with traditional aristocratic Doppelnamen (e.g. Faber-Castell).
In Austria (§ 93 ABGB), a couple can choose either of their surnames as married name. In the default case, each partner retains their unmarried name. The partner who is changing surnames has the possibility to use their unmarried name alongside the married name with hyphenation.
In Switzerland (Art. 160 ZGB), the couple can opt to both retain their unmarried name, or the couple can choose to use either surname as their married name. If both retain their name, they need to declare which will be the surname of any future children.
In Austria, titles of nobility including certain other orders and honours held by Austrian citizens have since 3 April 1919 been abolished, including nobiliary particles such as von, the use of such titles by Austrian citizens is an offence punishable with a financial enforcement penalty.Adelsaufhebungsgesetz, Verwaltungsstrafbarkeit . For example, Otto von Habsburg, Austria-Hungary's last crown prince, was referred to as Otto Habsburg(-Lothringen) in Austria. In Switzerland, where titles of nobility have been rare for several centuries, they can be used in private conversation, but are not officially recognized.
If different spellings are counted separately, the order is different:
These ten names are all occupational names, designating common occupations around 1600 when surnames became heritable. That's why these names arose independently across Germany.
Also, the spelling of given and surnames, varying previously from author to author, or even entry to entry, was then mostly fixed according to the official recorded form. Former noble titles appearing in male and female variants were transformed by the Weimar Constitution, article 109, into parts of the surnames in Germany, but a new tradition of gender-specific variants, for official registration, was established for these surnames. This practice was confirmed in a judgement by the Reichsgericht on 10 March 1926.Cf Reichsgesetzblatt (Reich Law Gazette), No. 113 (1926), pp. 107seqq.Cf. also Sebastian-Johannes von Spoenla-Metternich, Namenserwerb, Namensführung und Namensänderung unter Berücksichtigung von Namensbestandteilen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, 1997, (=simultaneously: Wilhelmshaven, Fachhochsch., Diploma thesis), p. 137. In a suit on a legal name change after a sex reassignment therapy the Bayerisches Oberstes Landesgericht (Bavarian Supreme Court) decided on 2 October 2002 that the register office (Standesamt) has to issue a birth certificate for a person of reassigned gender giving the gender-specific form of the variable surname part (deriving from the former title) according to the gender, which is now assigned to the person. Cf. Bayerisches Oberstes Landesgericht, Aktenzeichen: 1Z BR 98/02, Beschluß vom 2. Oktober 2002
Colloquially, surname variants for women continue to appear in some German dialects. In Bavarian dialect surnames of women sometimes are formed by adding the ending "-in", used in standard High German to indicate noun variants for women or items of grammatical feminine gender, such as Näher in (seamstr ess), with Näher (seamster) being the male form. Thus a Frau (Mrs.) Gruber may be referred to as "Gruber in". In West Low German parlance the ending "…sch(e)" is sometimes added to surnames of women, related to the standard High German adjective ending "…isch" (cognitive to English ""), to nouns or adjectives indicating belonging / pertaining to, being of the kind described by the suffixed word: for example, de Smidtsche, is Ms Schmidt (Smith), but literally something like the Smithian (the woman pertaining to a man/family named Schmidt).This usage of the possessive suffix "-isch(e)" then also caused its more general perception as feminine ending for professions, such as in "de Kööksch" (literally the "cookee"). Cf. Hein Timm, Wörterbuch Hochdeutsch-Plattdeutsch, Hamburg: Ernst Kabel, 1980, p. 54. .
Another form, indicating a female bearer of a surname, was the addition of a genitive "s" (like the Saxon genitive), the daughter or wife of Mr. Bäcker (literally Baker) would appear as Ms Bäckers (in German without an apostrophe), as being Bäcker's daughter or wife.
They are, however, often used in a written address (e.g., Dr. Meier, Prof. Dr. Müller), and will often be used in formal speech or sometimes by lower-ranked persons such as students, though many academics prefer being addressed just like anyone else, i.e. by Herr or Frau alone (see below).
Historically, the Hofname was the first type of commoners' family name to become heritable. This process began still in the Late Middle Ages (14th to 15th century); e.g. Ulrich Zwingli (b. 1484) inherited his father's surname, in origin a Hofname (from the term Twing, denoting a type of walled-in estate) even though he did not inherit his estate.
In cases where Nachname and Hofname are not identical (usually because there was no male heir at some point in the family history) they are joined in official documents by genannt (abbr. gen.), e.g. Amann gen. Behmann. In Austria the term vulgo (abbr. vlg.) is used instead of genannt. This is called a or vulgo name. Historically, other forms can be found as well, including Amann sonst Behmann genannt, Amann oder Behmann, an, auf, zu, alias, modo, vel, dictus, dicti, vero, qui et, or de. In some cases the form genannt changed into von over time, in other cases it was changed into a hyphenated surname (like Amann-Behmann), but these examples are not the only origins for these latter types of names.
Though the Namensänderungsgesetz (Law concerning the changing of names) allows changing because of any "important reason", in practice this will very rarely be allowed.
Adding Doktor (Ph.D.) in Germany, and adding any academic degree in Austria, into one's identity card or passport is not considered a name change.
Except for Southern Germany, usage of the definite article with the name outside of dialect is uncommon, and considered a mistake in Standard German. It is considered familiar language, but not as a mark of rough, rural manners as in French language. It is used especially when talking of and/or with children, but also in some other situations. E.g., Ich bin der Nils ('I am the Nils').
In Austria, the definite article is always used in informal spoken language, but most of the time not in very formal or written language.
In some dialects (such as those spoken in the Western Palatinate, the Saarland and parts of the Rhineland), the article used with women's and girls' names is not the feminine, but the neuter article. This is because the German word for "girl", Mädchen, is a neuter noun, due to the diminutive suffix -chen.
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