Names by country
German names for characters
Popular German first names by birth decade, common and regional surnames, pronunciation, and the naming rules writers trip over.
How German names work
German birth certificates list every given name; the one used daily is the Rufname, usually the first. Hyphenated first names (Hans-Jürgen, Karl-Heinz) were fashionable for boys born roughly 1935 to 1965. Maria as a boy's second name is a Catholic custom.
First names by birth decade
Names drift in and out of fashion. Pick from the decade your character was born, not the year your story is set.
Born before 1950
Girls
- Ursula OOR-zoo-lah
- Gisela GEE-zeh-lah
- Ingrid
- Helga
- Renate reh-NAH-teh
- Ilse IL-zeh
- Gertrud GAIRT-root
- Erika
Boys
- Hans
- Karl
- Werner VAIR-ner
- Günter GUEN-ter
- Heinz HINES
- Gerhard GAIR-hart
- Helmut HEL-moot
- Walter VAHL-ter
Born 1950–64
Girls
- Sabine zah-BEE-neh
- Monika
- Petra
- Karin KAH-rin
- Brigitte bri-GIT-teh
- Gabriele gah-bree-AY-leh
- Ute OO-teh
- Birgit BEER-git
Boys
- Peter PAY-ter
- Michael MEE-khah-el
- Thomas TOH-mahs
- Wolfgang
- Klaus
- Jürgen YUER-gen
- Uwe OO-veh
- Dieter DEE-ter
Born 1965–79
Girls
- Sandra
- Stefanie SHTEF-ah-nee
- Nicole nee-KOL
- Claudia KLOW-dee-ah
- Andrea AHN-dray-ah
- Anja AHN-yah
- Susanne zoo-ZAH-neh
- Katrin
Boys
- Andreas an-DRAY-ahs
- Thomas
- Michael
- Stefan SHTEF-ahn
- Frank
- Markus
- Christian KRIS-tee-ahn
- Oliver
Born 1980–94
Girls
- Julia YOO-lee-ah
- Katharina kah-tah-REE-nah
- Sarah ZAH-rah
- Anna
- Lisa LEE-zah
- Jennifer
- Christina
- Laura LOW-rah
Boys
- Christian
- Daniel DAH-nee-el
- Tobias toh-BEE-ahs
- Jan YAHN
- Sebastian zeh-BAHS-tee-ahn
- Florian
- Dennis
- Patrick
Born 1995–2009
Girls
- Lea LAY-ah
- Laura
- Anna
- Lena LAY-nah
- Sophie zo-FEE
- Hannah
- Julia
- Lara
Boys
- Lukas LOO-kahs
- Jonas YOH-nahs
- Leon LAY-on
- Niklas
- Tim
- Finn
- Luca
- Maximilian
Born 2010 onward
Girls
- Mia
- Emma
- Hannah
- Sophia zo-FEE-ah
- Emilia eh-MEE-lee-ah
- Lina LEE-nah
- Ella
- Clara
Boys
- Ben
- Paul
- Noah
- Finn
- Leon
- Elias eh-LEE-ahs
- Emil AY-meel
- Luis LOO-is
Common German surnames
- Müller MUEL-ler
- Schmidt SHMIT
- Schneider SHNY-der
- Fischer
- Weber VAY-ber
- Meyer MY-er
- Wagner VAHG-ner
- Becker
- Schulz SHOOLTS
- Hoffmann
- Schäfer SHAY-fer
- Koch KOKH
- Bauer BOW-er
- Richter RIKH-ter
- Klein KLINE
- Wolf VOLF
- Schröder SHRER-der
- Neumann NOY-mahn
- Schwarz SHVARTS
- Zimmermann TSIM-mer-mahn
- Braun BROWN
- Krüger KRUE-ger
- Hartmann
- Lange LAHNG-eh
Regional names
Where a character comes from inside Germany changes their surname, and sometimes their first name.
North (Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony)
-sen surnames (son of) cluster near the Danish border. Frisian names like Hauke and Wiebke run in rural northern families.
Surnames: Hansen, Petersen, Jensen, Thomsen, Carstensen, Ahrens, Brandt, Möller, Lüders, Jacobsen
Girls: Frauke, Wiebke, Imke, Silke, Hilke, Telse
Boys: Hauke, Ole, Hinnerk, Jannes, Fiete, Bjarne
Bavaria
Bavarian Catholic tradition favours saints' names and Maria as a second name, even for boys. Short forms like Sepp, Resi and Vroni are used every day.
Surnames: Huber, Maier, Gruber, Wimmer, Brunner, Stadler, Moser, Eder, Pichler, Lechner
Girls: Maria, Theresia, Veronika, Franziska, Magdalena, Kreszenz
Boys: Josef, Franz, Alois, Xaver, Korbinian, Andreas, Georg, Ludwig
Swabia and Baden-Württemberg
Swabian surnames often end in -le, a diminutive: Häberle, Kienzle, Riedle.
Surnames: Häberle, Kienzle, Riedle, Wörner, Dürr, Gaiser, Bader, Haug, Reutter, Kächele
Rhineland and Westphalia
Schmitz is the Rhineland form of Schmidt. Münsterland farm families sometimes carry two-part surnames (Schulze Wierling): the first part was the farm's title.
Surnames: Schmitz, Schulte, Kemper, Brockmann, Hüsken, Overbeck, Terhorst, Wessels, Kortmann, Vennemann
East (Saxony, Thuringia, Berlin, Brandenburg)
Slavic-origin surnames (Nowak, Kowalski, -ke endings) are common in the East. Children born in the GDR in the 1970s and 80s were often given English- or French-sounding names.
Surnames: Lehmann, Krause, Kühn, Seidel, Fiedler, Kretschmer, Lemke, Pohl, Ullrich, Günther
Girls: Mandy, Peggy, Cindy, Nancy, Doreen, Jacqueline, Yvonne, Ramona
Boys: Ronny, Maik, Enrico, René, Mirko, Rico, Danny, Steve
Questions
What are common German surnames?
Some of the most common German surnames are Müller, Schmidt, Schneider, Fischer, Weber, Meyer. Regional surnames differ, so check the regional lists before choosing one for a character from a particular area.
How do German names work?
German birth certificates list every given name; the one used daily is the Rufname, usually the first. Hyphenated first names (Hans-Jürgen, Karl-Heinz) were fashionable for boys born roughly 1935 to 1965. Maria as a boy's second name is a Catholic custom.
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