Old German Names?

[sodallas3]

My family is German and my grandmother came to Australia by boat after the World War II. I'd really love to honour some of the women in my family. Personally, I don't really like many of our family names, from this side. But I was hoping if you Berries good help me maybe find some jems amongst the unattractive ones! aha. Even if they're a stretch in relation.
Here's the list:
Irmgard - It's alright, I can only see Irma as a possibility.
Ursula - I dislike this!
Else pronounced El-sie
Margarethe
Antonia - My favourite out of the names I found so far.
I'm also open to any ideas of any pretty german girls names besides the common ones used now. Just not Gertrude or Brunhilda! aha.
I'm doing family history searches so I may post them as well, later on.
Thank you!

[pooh]

I also have German heritage (Austrian actually - but obviously the language is the same).

Names from my family tree that I love are:
Margarethe - nn Greta
Charlotte - nn Lotta (to reflect the German pronunciation)

Valerie is also an oft used name in my family tree, but not one that I am particularly fond of.

[livie lou]

I don't have any German heritage that I know of but here is some names that might work:

Albina/Albine
Aleida
Astrid
Cara
Felicie
Hanna
Heidi
Ilsa/Ilse
Ingrid
Katja
Liesel
Lisbeth
Lore
Luzia
Odilie/Ottilie
Sascha
Saskia
Senta
Yvonne
Zella
Ziska
Zita



There is more in the German section on behindthename

[shineah]

Oh fun! I am German!

Some traditional German names that could work:

Cornelia
Sabine
Bea
Ingrid
Rosemarie
Ida
Elsa
Frida
Marta


This site is in German only, but you'll find a bunch of German names from different decades, if you click through (on the right-hand side column, called "Jahrzehnte"):

http://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/jahrgang/j1890

Anyway, good luck!

[ashthedreamer]

Oooh, I love all the suggestions on this thread! My dad's traced traced our family tree back to the 1600s in Germany/the Black Forest, so German culture always fascinates me. Some of my favorite German names are Johanna, Emmeline (not sure if this is German or not, but I've heard it is!), Greta (I like this better on its own than any of the fuller ways to get it, like Margaret and such), and Clara/Klara.

I'm trying to remember the names on my German side, but I'm not sure I remember too many. There were a lot of Claras, Annas, and Katerinas (not sure of the proper German spelling)... If I have time I might go look it up a bit later, and leave a few more suggestions.

Good luck!

[mischa]

Anneliese is one of my favourite German names.

Wilhelmina
Liselotte
Dagmar
Aleydis
Magdalena
Johanna
Franziska
Bettina
Dorothea
Adelheid
Klotilde
Edeline
Friederike
Gerda
Gertraud
Hannelore
Gudrun
Hedwig
Katharina
Rosalinde
Ottilie
Monika
Sybilla
Veronika

[gigigibbons]

[QUOTE=shineah;1447240]Oh fun! I am German!

Some traditional German names that could work:

Cornelia
Sabine
Bea
Ingrid
Rosemarie
Ida
Elsa
Frida
Marta


This site is in German only, but you'll find a bunch of German names from different decades, if you click through (on the right-hand side column, called "Jahrzehnte"):

http://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/jahrgang/j1890

Anyway, good luck! [/QUOTE

This list is great, and a few favorites of mine are on here also.

I love the combo of Ingrid Sabine. Although I also really love Sabine as a first name, and I'm a supporter of Elsa/Ilse (Ill-sah).

[everwaiteing]

I am 7/8 German. Much of my family tree is traced back to the 1600s and 1700s. Of course, the most common German names are Anna, Catharina(e), Maria(e), Margaretha(e), & Elisabethe(a). Other names are:

Marike
Ottila/Ottilia
Appolonia
Sophie
Blandina
Rosina
Sybilla
Dorothea
Susanna
Augusta
Theodore(a)
Helena
Rebecca
Magdalena
Almuth
Eleonore
Wilhelmine(a)
Eva
Talike
Edith
Metta
Ilsabe
Hedwig
Alste Marey
Eyse
Alheit
Henriette
Francis
Marlena/Marlehn
Ahlke (usually paired with Margarethe)
Occa/Ocke
Johanna
Tomike
Amelia/Amalia
Hanna
Charlotte(a)
Christine(a)
Barbara
Frederike(a)
Agnes
Regina
Luisa/Louisa
Agatha
Sophia
Ilsabein/Elsabein
Carolina
Elise
Gerduth
Gesche
Gretke/Grete
Heilke
Wubke
Lisabeth(a)
Treinke
Metje
Bertha
Ursula

[mrstrivette]

Ooh, I like this one as I have German ancestral lines too! :-) Some of these might be repeats. I did't look real close at the above.

Johanna
Wilmene
Wilhelmina
Annette
Tressa
Geesche (would be really an oddball first name these days)
Tietje (I'm not even sure how to say this one!)
Trientje (or this one!)
Gretje
Affke

Those are strictly from my ancestral tree.

You can also go here for a list of feminine German names:

http://www.behindthename.com/php/bro...=&value_gender[]=feminine&type_usage=1&operator_usage=&value_usage[]=german

[shaymin2]

Anneliese is one of my favorite German names.