German Names

Old man's name just conceivable for a girl--makes a new spin on Wendy.

Wendell

Pronounced MY-keh, this German form of Mary was very popular a few decades ago.  Might make a fresh alternative to Mikayla and sisters.  The Frisian version is Maike, and the Biblical male Micah sounds the same.

Meike

Mary has hundreds of variations around the world, and this German form, pronounced Ma-RYE-keh, is virtually unknown in English-speaking lands.  A possible alternative to Mariah?

Mareike

Elizabeth is a name of hundreds of variations, but this <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/493/german-names-for-girls">German name for girls</a>, redolent of the Olde Country, is unfamiliar in the U.S. and likely to remain so.

Elske

Melisende, the mellifluous name of a 12th century queen of Jerusalem, gave rise to the more modern Millicent, after it was brought to England by the Normans. Ultimately, it comes from the Gothic name, Amalaswintha, meaning "strong in work" or "vigorous, brave, and strong". 
 
Also appearing as Melisent, Melicent, and Malasintha, it's more related to Amelia than to Melissa, despite appearances. The French form, Melisande, is a fairy tale heroine.

Melisende

This old-time fairy tale name is rarely heard in the modern English-speaking world, but it's so, well, mellifluous, that it would make a lovely choice for a twenty-first century girl--a romanticized tribute to an Aunt Melissa or Melanie. 
 
Pelleas and Melisande is a play by Maeterlinck, the inspiration for the Debussy opera of the same name. In modern times, Melisande became a princess via the Rankin and Bass film The Flight of Dragons. And Broadway buffs might remember Melisande as the name the main character Ella Peterson takes in the musical Bells are Ringing. The name of the beautiful red-haired character on Game of Thrones is spelled Melisandre.

Melisande

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.

Neele

Another spelling of JANNIK, a John form that has a terminally Olde Worlde sound to the American ear.

Jannick

Senta is a lovely name, but if you name your daughter Senta, will the kids call her Santa? Maybe, but this obscure yet simple <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/493/german-names-for-girls">German name for girls</a>.may appeal to parents searching the untraveled name routes.

There is an unrelated Italian name for girls Santa, the feminine of Santo, meaning saint. Senta Berger is an Austrian actress most famous in the 1960s and 1970s.

Senta

Name of Faulkner's great emotional villain in As I Lay Dying, Anse is not ordinarily used as a first name. It literally means cove in French, though the element ans means God in Old German and is found in names such as Ansel and Anselm.

Anse

The <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/493/german-names-for-girls">German name for girls</a> Wylda was introduced to the world by British filmmaker/artist, director of Fifty Shades of Gray Sam Taylor-Wood and her actor husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who named their daughter Wylda Rae. Is that Wylda, which rhymes with Hilda, and might be found inhabiting a sod hut on the Kansas prairie in 1901? Or Wylda, sister of Wilder, destined for a future as a hell-raising singer in a rock band?

Wylda

Like other stylish choices from Roman to Romy to Romeo, Rohmer is a German surname that relates to both Roman pilgrims and the root word for fame. 

Jennifer Jason Leigh and Noah Baumbach chose this version for their son. The couple's film Margot at the Wedding was an homage to French New Wave director Eric Rohmer, who died a few month's before Rohmer Baumbach's birth. 

Like many other fashionable new <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/805/german-names-for-boys">German names for boys</a>, Rohmer has two syllables and ends in -er. You can think of it as the European cousin of more familiar <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/307/occupational-baby-names">occupational names</a> like Cooper and Parker.

Rohmer

Along with the more common Silke, a diminutive used in Germany for Cecilia and Celia. Both Silke and Zilke are unknown yet usable <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/493/german-names-for-girls">German names for girls</a>.

Zilke

Dinand is popular in the Netherlands thanks to a local singing sensation.  Dinand is one of many Dutch short forms that come from the middle or end of a name -- think Bas for Sebastian or Hans from Johannes -- rather than from the beginning as is more usual in the U.S. and UK, though we're catching on.

Dinand

Helisent was used in the medieval days and has royal antecedents found in both France and Germany. Information on its origins is sketchy, but some say it's related to Elise or Helen or Heloise, or that it derives from a Visigothic name meaning "temple path". Variants include Elisende, Elisenda, Elysant, Elysande, Elissent and Elisent. 

 In modern times, it's found in the "Final Fantasy" video game and very occasionally on a real live baby.

Helisent

Meret is an interesting name found in several cultures. In Egyptian mythology, she was a goddess associated with singing, dancing and rejoicing and her meaning is 'beloved.' But the name also has significance in Hebrew, Danish and Norwegian. Close relatives include Merete and Maret.
 The most famous namesake is Méret Oppenheim, the German-born Swiss Surrealist artist, and photographer--as well as model for Man Ray--who was a leading figure in the Surrealist movement of the 1920s. She was named after Meretlein, a wild child who lives in the woods in the novel 'Der Grüne Heinrich(The Green Henry) by Gottfried Kelle.
 We think Meret has merit.

Meret

Clunky Gertrude is heading towards obscurity in the US, but here's a variation that might intrigue - Gesine, also spelled Gesina. 

Gesine comes from the same roots - Geretrudis - and shares the name's strong meaning. But Gesine has a smoother sound. 

Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock has a sister with this intriguing <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/493/german-names-for-girls">German name for girls</a>, Gesine Bullock-Prado, a baker and writer. Their mother, Helga, was born in Germany.

Gesine

A sophisticated <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' name</a> for those attracted to Leona, Leonie and Leonore.

Leopoldine

Ermentrude was the name of two medieval queens of France. Despite these distinguished beginnings, this antique name is unlikely to catch on with contemporary parents, perhaps because the first syllable may sound unattractive to the modern ear and the last two syllables are the equivalent of intrude. Then there's that rude final syllable. English variant Ermintrude is equally unlikely to find favor. 

 The numbers bear this out: Zero baby girls were named Ermentrude by any spelling last year....or in 1880, 1920, 1950, or 1990.

Ermentrude

Bardo has a poetic beginning and upbeat ending, with roots in several diverse cultures. It may be most familiar today via George Saunders' novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which refers to the Tibetan Buddhist state of suspension between one life and the next, resembling the Christian idea of Limbo. Bardo is also an ancient saint's name: Saint Bardo was the eleventh century bishop of Mainz, in Germany. Actress Sandra Bullock chose Bardo as her son's middle.

Bardo

German baby names on this list are those that have their roots in German and Germanic languages, which is not necessarily the same as names popular in modern Germany.

 include many choices that may not necessarily be German, such as the Latinate Mia and Sofia or the Irish Finn.

One of the top girl names in the US today is Emma, a German name. Along with Emma, German names in the US Top 500 for girls include Angela, Amelia, Alice, Adele, Amelia, Ella, Edith, Millie, and Matilda.

 is William. Along with William, the German boy names in the US Top 500 include Henry, Charles, Conrad, Henry, Leo, and Max.

 include Lina, Neele, Leni, and Ida. Popular boy names in Germany include Louis, Oskar, Moritz, and Anton.

 is near the head of the list in Germany as well as many other countries, and names of German origin such as Alice and Axel rank highly in many places in the Western World.

If you're looking for German names for your baby girl or baby boy, browse this full list of possibilities, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

German names for girls and boys, with meanings and popularity, including top German names and unique German baby names in Germany, the US, and around the world. (Page 42)