German Dog Names

An ancient German saint's name – and most famously the name of Harry Potter's snowy owl – but the combination of "head" plus "wig" feels a little too literal in English.

Also spelled Sigfrid, this hefty German name has an appropriately majestic meaning: "victorious peace". Fittingly, a famous bearer was the English World War I poet and pacifist Siegfried Sassoon. Sassoon was named after the hero of a Wagner opera, which in turn was based on a tragic hero from German legend.

Popular in its own right in Germany and definitely makes a more intriguing and grownup short form of the classic Timothy than Timmy or even Tim.

Rilla dropped out of the US Top 1000 in 1915, but it's starting to feel like an intriguing possibility again in this age of short, sweet, a-ending names for girls. It is traditionally a short form for names ending in -rilla, like Marilla from the Anne of Green Gables books (Anne's youngest daughter is Bertha Marilla, called Rilla for short). Rilla may also derive from the German word Rille, meaning "brook; stream".

Brawny name chosen for his son by rocker Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue.

Like Papa name Rudolf, Rolf never quite emigrated from the Bavarian Alps. You might want to move on to Rollo or Wolf.

One of the most familiar German names, with an upright Prussian image. Friedrich might just have been out for long enough to start coming back in.

The Selma-Thelma-Velma connection dates it.

Senta is a lovely name, but if you name your daughter Senta, will the kids call her Santa? Maybe, but this obscure yet simple German name for girls.may appeal to parents searching the untraveled name routes.

Maila is a feminine name with diverse cultural origins. In Finnish, it's a variant of Maija, itself a form of Maria, ultimately meaning 'bitter' or 'beloved' from Hebrew origins. In the Philippines, Maila relates to 'mailap,' suggesting something elusive or hard to catch. The name gained some recognition through Finnish-American actress Maila Nurmi, who created the iconic character Vampira in the 1950s. With its simple two-syllable structure and melodic sound, Maila has an accessible international quality while remaining distinctive. The name has never been extremely common in any culture but maintains steady usage in Finland and parts of Southeast Asia. Its cross-cultural nature makes it appealing to parents seeking a name that works well across language boundaries while remaining relatively uncommon.

Somewhat flat-footed form; go for the original.

Malte began as a short form of the now-obsolete Ancient Germanic name Helmold. Helmold has gone extinct, but Malte has survived and is now enjoying a popularity resurgence in Germany and Sweden.

This spin on the popular Hannah is widely-used in Europe and pronounced similarly to Hannah. It may also be a short form of Johanne, from John/Joan.

Brant, a no-nonsense one-syllable name, had some popularity in the early 1970s, but has been off the lists for a decade. Now, with similarly brisk names like Chase, Jace, Bryce, and Grant finding favor, Brant could make a comeback.

When Kate Hudson named her second son Bingham and announced that she would be calling him Bing, it put this zingy nickname name out on the table. Before that, there was only one, further nicknamed Der Bingle -- and he was really Harry Lillis Crosby.

Reversed vowels make it seem less fierce.

This name's popularity peaked in the 1930s in the mid 600s - but we think it is time for a reconsideration. Arvin feels more modern than similar names like Marvin and Alvin. It also boasts a beautiful meaning and defies easy shortening (which is an asset to many parents who choose a name because they want it to be used!).

This old school German name, more familiar these days as a surname, is a relative of the place name America.

An undiscovered surname possibility with upscale overtones, could be enlivened with nickname Ingo.

Alexandra is a name with many international variations, elaborations and short forms, and Alexandrine is one of the more unusual. Another, Alexandrina, was the first name of Queen Victoria.