Talk:German name

message: I don't think that "There are only five circumstances in which one is allowed to change one's name".
Or maybe this is different in Austria, because a friend of mine change her name (both her Vorname and her Nachname) for none of the listed reasons (she just wanted a different name). 
She just needed to show proof that she isn't naming herself after a celebrity etc.
13:52, May 12, 2008 (GMT+1)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.121.51.79 (talk) 11:53, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Change

message: "More commonly, the spouses combine their Nachnamen by a hyphen, and so one of them (or both) then bears a double name (Doppelname). (There is a limit of only one hyphen in a name.)" -- This is not totally correct. There are also so called "old double names", which already existed for a long time (one example that just comes to my mind is "Müller-Lüdenscheid"). In these cases, a new double name may have three components and two hyphens. Because those old double names are rare, though, there are very few cases (although I happen to know one person - only one, and most people, probably none at all, just to show how rare they are). I'm not sure whether, and if, how, to put this information into the article, because it will complicate matters for only very rare exeptions, so I haven't changed the article. --222.13.236.80 09:50, 19 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Triple surnames 

message: Are girls up to say, 16 or 18 addressed that way socially?  Or are they only addressed by first name?  In many English speaking countries, you would never call a teenage girl "Ms. Angela Smith" in an invitation.  She's either plain Angela Smith or Miss Angela Smith. Writerchick 13:18, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: At 18 an unmarried woman would most certainly be a "Ms.", but at that point "Miss" would likely be interchangabe. 112.198.90.188 (talk) 05:04, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

text: Both "Ms." and "Miss" are used in every English speaking nation I have lived in. That is, the USA, UK, Australia, and Philippines.112.198.90.188 (talk) 05:04, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

text: No. In virtually all contexts, one would simply write the first and last names, e.g., "Julia Schmidt." Except in very formal situations, it is now quite common to address correspondence to anyone (regardless of age) that way anyway, i.e., leaving out the Herr/Frau/Fräulein is virtually always safe. --ThorstenNY 19:25, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Not sure about old-fashioned English grammar school teachers, but in standard English, you would address young students as either "Mistress" or "Master".112.198.90.188 (talk) 05:04, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

text: And I do wonder how women can take Fräulein as an insult if what they really do is take an allusion to their higher age as an insult. Anyway, I'm German and have never met a fräulein who has taken the address as an insult, except maybe those with whom you don't even think of trying. You know, there are those who reason: A woman is Frau, i. e. more, when she has a husband, thus this is utter reactionary stuff concerned with marriage and husbands... I rather feel that the problem is we have no similiar title for men. Since as much as Fräulein Schmidt of 18 years is not a Frau Schmidt, a Fritz Müller of 19 years is not a Herr Müller, only there's no other word for what he is. Fritz Müller may be a Herr Gefreiter on joining the army, or you might try "Herr Geselle" or "Herr Kfz-Mechatroniker" (I don't say that's common as address, but that's what he is); he is only really a Herr Müller when "settling". No this is for me the difference between a Frau and a Fräulein. But you'd better call them with first names, anyway, at least in sufficiently familiar scenery. However, on, say, a postcard - in the postal address (Adresse in German), not the personal address (Anrede in German) - why not. --131.159.0.7 (talk) 12:08, 10 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fräulein 

message: Does anyone know where the "Fröken" example comes from? I'm just wondering because "Fröken" actually means "Miss" (i.e., "Fräulein") in Icelandic. -- Schneelocke 08:52, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fröken 

message: Is that really one of the most common names? never heard it...
:It was vandalism. Fixed now. Rmhermen 03:23, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: And using the V word is highly racist! Especially on a German wiki. Show some respect. 112.198.90.188 (talk) 05:36, 8 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Crenshaw?? 

message: > It is fairly uncommon to use shortened names officially (like "Bill Gates" instead of "William H. Gates, III"). So even if all of Benjamin's friends call him "Benni" (German short for Benjamin), he will always write his name as "Benjamin".
That is by no means true. There are loads of people whose official names are Bernhard or Heinrich and who will call themselves Bernd and Heinz when writing their name. --85.181.237.17 (talk) 16:28, 29 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  shortened names 

message: "It is strictly forbidden to give children Doppelnamen." This is not completely true. I'm German and I know German children with Doppelnamen. I don't know the law, though.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.227.219.235 (talk) 23:16, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: lie

message: I'd like to see a reference for this one.  I've never heard of it before and no reference was given.  CsikosLo (talk) 17:25, 21 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Hofname

message: While, of course, I am aware that this is an article about German names.  I don't see why the title headings themselves need to be in German.  This is not a German language article and it seems as if some of the the more arbitrary changes, direct translations such as vorname instead of forename only complicate matters for English-only speakers/readers and should be changed.  Does anyone agree?  Disagree? EttaLove (talk) 17:38, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Today, I added this last section on “gender” with the German words “eindeutig beim Geschlecht”, where Geschlecht = gender(here) and “eindeutig” is explained at the start. The idea might have been some sort of “eyecatcher”. (That's almost a German word to some Germans). I think a section could have a “German” title, as Doppelname, if this term is used in the article. Perhaps that's better than ‘lie’. But perhaps too many German words make the reading too tough work. I'm sorry I didn't read your comment before I started writing those other sections. But I'm happy to find this good article in "en.wiki". --Schwab7000 (talk) 18:52, 21 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: German Headings

message: I really find it hard to believe that some of these names made it on this list - especially considering the timespan. Some of the names only gained popularity rather recently. I would be very interested to see a source for this information. 
Reckham (talk) 14:09, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: That was added by an IP user on 8 May 2007 . Probably from here. --Rosenzweig (talk) 22:55, 4 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Most popular names between 1957 and 2006

message: I know that German law allows name changes for nobility on inheriting titles. 71.194.44.209 (talk) 04:40, 10 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Is there an explicit provision to that effect? A bit odd, if the law does not recognize titles (but does not forbid them either as in Austria). —Tamfang (talk) 17:00, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  name change 

message: surely the most important fact about german names is that you don't have a free choice like in usa, uk etc.? same in norway.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.41.193.239 (talk) 12:18, 14 May 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Seems like it's the same in a lot of European countries. Something like that should definitely be covered in the article. We need a reference to back it up though. Do you know a good webpage/book/something that describes how Germans are limited to certain names?--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 08:48, 15 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  lack of freedom 

message: Given names have to be "eindeutig beim Geschlecht" (that is unambiguous, distinct). At the Standesamt*) - it had been mentioned - and in your Personalausweis**, there is no ‘tag’ that would say male/female. So this has to be unambiguous from your Vorname(n). But there are some names like Kai, Kim, Toni for boys and girls. Then another names has to be added, like Peter (boy) or Anna (girl). And a ‘well-known’ exeption:
Rainer Maria Rilke. Maria is allowed to be a 2nd given name for a boy.
: The Vorname is usually gender-specific.
says the article. It's a bit more than usually. --Schwab7000 (talk) 16:18, 21 June 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: While I of course would hold Kai to be a male and Kim to be a female name (I know there are strange exceptions to the first). Toni would in all probability be written down as either Anton or Antonia and then that's settled. --91.34.207.168 (talk) 21:22, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gender: "eindeutig beim Geschlecht" 

message: I think, it should be added, that politicians and celebrities are generally referenced by their last name only. So a news headline would very likely be “Merkel wird Kanzler” or “Klinsmann neuer Bundestrainer”, while this usage is not restricted to the news headlines but may appear in any news text as well as when talking about celebrities in general. --Schmidtwisser (talk) 15:47, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: oh but the media called her Van Almsick as well, and Kristina Schroder is not calld Schroder standing alone because there are to many Schröders78.42.252.102 (talk) 13:49, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Usage of family name without Herr/Frau 

message: Yes. In a German newstext, those persons are referred to by their full name (Angela Merkel or Jürgen Klinsmann) or just by their family name or by “Kanzlerin Merkel”, “Ex-Kanzler Schröder”. --Schwab7000 (talk) 13:00, 16 August 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: oh but the media called her Van Almsick as well, and Kristina Schroder is not calld Schroder standing alone because there are to many Schröders78.42.252.102 (talk) 13:49, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Angela M. and Jürgen K. 

message: The example in the passage "e.g. "Johann Sebastian Bach"." should actually be: "Bach, Johann Sebastian"  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.91.255.177 (talk) 14:49, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Western order and alphabetized list of surnames. 

message: I understand that German names are no longer popular in Germany, but should the article about "German name" be about so many non-German names? Seems confusing. A lot of people may be led to think "Sofia" and "Ben" are German names. A distinction should be made between "German names" and "Names that occur in the nation of Germany"...112.198.90.188 (talk) 06:02, 8 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  German names are not German? 

message: In the section Nobility (which is awfully short) there isn't much said about the placement of noble titles as part of the name. For example, here are the names of some German generals and the translation of their titles:
Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb        Ritter = Knight
Generalfeldmarschall Eduard Freiherr von Böhm-Ermolli           Freiherr = Baron
Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth James Graf von Moltke              Graf = Count
I've also seen "Reichsfreiherr" used, but I'm not sure how it differs from just Freiherr.
It used to be a requirement in German society to include the title as part of the given name just before the family name. This requirement was abolished after WW II. (Is a German parent legally allowed to give a child such a name?)
It seems like I once read an article on Wikipedia about this very topic but i can't find it to now. If anyone knows it they should add it as a "Main article" heading for this section.  __209.179.36.56 (talk) 14:59, 10 August 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  More info needed in the '''Nobility''' section  

message: The name 'Ashkan' never appeared in any top ten name list in Germany. Whoever made that edit probably wanted to see his/her name in Wikipedia, but didn't intend to give accurate info. Could someone who is more acquainted with the system here revert those edits?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.181.29.225 (talk) 02:52, 16 November 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wrong name slipped into Names by Decades section 

message: The name Amann gen. Behmann sounds like an artificial example, using A and B as placeholders, rather than tje name of a real person. While Amann and Behmann are both real names, it does not appear that there is any (notable) person with that combination of names. 89.204.135.68 (talk) 07:34, 20 January 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Amann gen. Behmann 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Some surnames are probably regional, especially Austrian ones. Xx236 (talk) 12:37, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Austrian  surnames? 

message: This page is not interlinked with German Wikipedia, so a divsion between surnames and given names may be useful. Xx236 (talk) 12:39, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  German surnames 

message: Two maps show contemporary Germany. This article is about several countries.Xx236 (talk) 08:43, 20 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Distribution of surnames 

message: Category:Swiss-German surnames Xx236 (talk) 07:31, 26 September 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Very little about Swiss-German surnames 

message: :
Er, Czech and Polish are West Slavic languages. —Tamfang (talk) 21:26, 18 March 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Slavic nitpicking