94-535: Personal names in German-speaking Europe consist of one or several given names ( Vorname , plural Vornamen ) and a surname ( Nachname, Familienname ). The Vorname is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the " Western order " of "given name, surname". The most common exceptions are alphabetized list of surnames, e.g. " Bach, Johann Sebastian ", as well as some official documents and spoken southern German dialects . In most of this,
188-660: A first name , forename , or Christian name ), together with a surname (also known as a last name or family name ). In the name "James Smith", for example, James is the first name and Smith is the surname. Surnames in the West generally indicate that the individual belongs to a family, a tribe, or a clan, although the exact relationships vary: they may be given at birth, taken upon adoption, changed upon marriage , and so on. Where there are two or more given names, typically only one (in English-speaking cultures usually
282-519: A German reading the name: Marquard , pronounced French pronunciation: [maʁkaʁ] in French, ended up being pronounced German pronunciation: [ˈmaʁkvaʁt] much like the German Markwart from which it was originally derived. Traditionally, the wife adopts her husband's Nachname on marriage and drops her own. However, due to the legal equality of sexes, the opposite
376-549: A forename followed by first and then second surnames (e.g. Josephine Awanto Nchang). The latter structure is rare in Francophone Cameroon, however, where a third structure prevails: First surname, second surname, forename (e.g. Awanto Nchang Josephine). Depending on national convention, additional given names (and sometimes titles ) are considered part of the name. The royalty , nobility , and gentry of Europe traditionally have many names, including phrases for
470-757: A large number of forenames, often six or more. This fashion was to some extent copied by the bourgeois class , but subsided again after the end of the 19th century, so that while two or three forenames remain common, a larger number is now rare. The practice persists among German nobility, e.g. Johann Friedrich Konrad Carl Eduard Horst Arnold Matthias, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen, Duke of Saxony (b. 1952), Ernst August Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian-Ludwig, Prince of Hanover (b. 1954), Christian Heinrich Clemens Paul Frank Peter Welf Wilhelm-Ernst Friedrich Franz Prince of Hanover and Dukelin, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg (b. 1985). Traditionally, there are dialectal differences between
564-510: A new framework of dialect classification altogether. Nevertheless, in common parlance it is common for speakers of German dialects to use the traditional/older nomenclature when referring to their particular dialect, stating, for example, that they speak Saxon, Bavarian, Allemanic (Swabian), Thuringian or Franconian. In linguistics of German, German dialects are distinguished from varieties of Standard German . The variation among German dialects ranges. In regions with dialects are being in
658-437: A person must have a given name , which is usually gender-specific, followed by the parents' family name . In onomastic terminology, given names of male persons are called andronyms (from Ancient Greek ἀνήρ / man, and ὄνομα / name), while given names of female persons are called gynonyms (from Ancient Greek γυνή / woman, and ὄνομα / name). Some given names are bespoke, but most are repeated from earlier generations in
752-486: A prefix instead of Patronymic suffix (father's given name) and the initials is/ are prefixed or listed first and then followed by the son's/ daughter's given name. One system used for naming, using only given names (without using family name or surname) is as below: for Tamil Hindu son's name using the initials system: S. Rajeev: (initial S for father's given name Suresh and Rajeev is the son's given name). The same Tamil Hindu name using Patronymic suffix last name system
846-625: A result of their speakers assimilating into areas where other dialects, as well as Standard German, were already spoken. Low German varieties (in Germany usually referred to as "Platt" or "Plattdeutsch") are considered dialects of the German language by some but a separate language by others (then often termed "Low Saxon"). Linguistically Low German (that is, Ingvaeonic ("North Sea Germanic") and Low Franconian (that is, some Istvaeonic ) dialects are grouped together because both did not participate in
940-706: A so-called Doppelname , e.g. " Else Lasker-Schüler ". Recent legislation motivated by gender equality now allows a married couple to choose the surname they want to use, including an option for men to keep their birthname hyphenated to the common family name in the same way. It is also possible for the spouses to do without a common surname altogether and to keep their birthnames. The most common given names are either Biblical (" Christian ", derived from names of Biblical characters or saints; Johann/Hans "John", Georg/Jörg "George", Jakob "Jacob" and "James"; Anna , Maria , Barbara , Christina ) or from Germanic names ( Friedrich "Frederick", Ludwig "Louis", etc.) Since
1034-405: A special case, as they were introduced later, in the late 18th to early 19th century, per fiat . The Prussian authorities imposed made-up and sometimes derogatory names. For instance, the name "Waldlieferant" (lit.: forest supplier) was "created" to ridicule a Jewish timber trader. Even way more offensive expressions ("Afterduft"; lit.: anus odor) were in use. This is by no means the rule, though; on
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#17327655963561128-623: Is patronymic . Thus, all the children of Ivan Volkov would be named "[first name] Ivanovich Volkov" if male, or "[first name] Ivanovna Volkova" if female (-ovich meaning "son of", -ovna meaning "daughter of", and -a usually being appended to the surnames of girls). However, in formal Russian name order, the surname comes first, followed by the given name and patronymic, such as "Raskolnikov Rodion Romanovich". In many families, single or multiple middle names are simply alternative names, names honoring an ancestor or relative, or, for married women, sometimes their maiden names. In some traditions, however,
1222-493: Is Rajeev Suresh meaning Rajeev son of Suresh (Rajeev (first is son's given name) followed by Suresh (father's given name)). As a result, unlike surnames, while using patronymic suffix the same last name will not pass down through many generations. For Tamil Hindu daughters, the initials naming system is the same, eg: S. Meena. Using the Patronymic suffix system it is Meena Suresh: meaning Meena daughter of Suresh; Meena (first
1316-639: Is a dialect spoken in Colonia Tovar , Venezuela , that belongs to the Low Alemannic branch of German. The dialect, like other Alemannic dialects , is not mutually intelligible with Standard German . It is spoken by descendants of Germans from the Black Forest region of southern Baden , who emigrated to Venezuela in 1843. The dialect has also acquired some Spanish loanwords . Currently 1.1 million American citizens speak German, with
1410-434: Is a single word, known as a mononym . This can be true from birth, or occur later in life. For example, Teller , of the magician duo Penn and Teller , was named Raymond Joseph Teller at birth, but changed his name both legally and socially to be simply "Teller". In some official government documents, such as his driver's license , his given name is listed as NFN , an initialism for "no first name". The Inuit believe that
1504-401: Is a system describing the choice of personal name in a certain society. Personal names consist of one or more parts, such as given name , surname and patronymic . Personal naming systems are studied within the field of anthroponymy . In contemporary Western societies (except for Iceland, Hungary, and sometimes Flanders , depending on the occasion), the most common naming convention is that
1598-507: Is a variety of High German spoken in Chile. Most speakers of Lagunen-Deutsch live around Lake Llanquihue . Lagunen-Deutsch has integrated elements of Spanish. This includes the integration of false cognates with the Spanish language, transferring the Spanish meanings into Lagunen-Deutsch. The geographical origin of most or all speakers of Lagunen-Deutsch is Chile, to where the ancestors of
1692-522: Is also considered bad luck to take the name of a living ancestor, as the Angel of Death may mistake the younger person for their namesake (although there is no such custom among Sephardi Jews ). Jews may also have a Jewish name for intra-community use and use a different name when engaging with the Gentile world. Chinese and Japanese emperors receive posthumous names . In some Polynesian cultures ,
1786-463: Is always written in the Western order. The English and transliterated Chinese full names can be written in various orders. A hybrid order is preferred in official documents including the legislative records in the case for Hong Kong. Examples of the hybrid order goes in the form of Hong Kong actor “ Tony Leung Chiu-wai ” or Singapore Prime Minister " Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai ", with family names (in
1880-495: Is commonly gendered (e.g. Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss.) and might additionally convey marital status . Historically, professional titles such as "Doctor" and "Reverend" were largely confined to male professions, so these were implicitly gendered. In formal address, personal names, inclusive of a generational designation, if any, may be followed by one or more post-nominal letters giving office, honour, decoration, accreditation, or formal affiliation. The order given name(s), family name
1974-660: Is commonly known as the Western name order and is usually used in Western European countries and in non-Western European countries that have cultures predominantly influenced by Western Europe (e.g. the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand). It is also used in non-Western regions such as North , East , Central and West India ; Pakistan; Bangladesh; Thailand; Saudi Arabia; Indonesia (non-traditional); Singapore; Malaysia (most of, non-traditional); and
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#17327655963562068-560: Is considered to be an important step towards the evolution of the Early New High German . It aimed to be understandable to an ample audience and was based mainly on High German varieties. Early New High German gained more prestige than Low Saxon and became the language of science and literature. Other factors included the Hanseatic League losing its importance around the same time (as new trade routes to Asia and
2162-465: Is daughter's given name) followed by Suresh (father's given name). As a result, unlike surnames, while using patronymic suffix the same last name will not pass down through many generations. And after marriage the wife may or may not take her husband's given name as her last name instead of her father's. Eg: after marriage, Meena Jagadish: meaning Meena wife of Jagadish: Meena (first is wife's given name) followed by Jagadish (husband's given name). Hungary
2256-642: Is derived from Hessian , another West Central German dialect. Amana German is called Kolonie-Deutsch in Standard German. In Brazil, the largest concentrations of German speakers, German Brazilians , are in Rio Grande do Sul , where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch , and Brazilian Pomeranian were developed, especially in the areas of Santa Catarina , Paraná, Rondônia, and Espírito Santo , as well as in Petrópolis ( Rio de Janeiro ). Lagunen-Deutsch
2350-564: Is different from North India where family name typically appears last or other parts of South India where patronymic names are widely used instead of family names. Tamil people , generally those of younger generations, do not employ caste names as surnames. This came into common use in India and also the Tamil diaspora in nations like Singapore after the Dravidian movement in 1930s, when
2444-427: Is divided into Central German , High Franconian and Upper German . Central German dialects include Ripuarian , Moselle Franconian , Rhine Franconian (incl. Hessian ), Lorraine Franconian , Thuringian , Silesian , High Prussian , Lusatian dialects and Upper Saxon . They are spoken in the southeastern Netherlands, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg, parts of northeastern France and in Germany approximately between
2538-464: Is especially done in Iceland (as shown in example) where people are known and referred to almost exclusively by their given name/s. Some people (called anonyms ) choose to be anonymous , that is, to hide their true names, for fear of governmental prosecution or social ridicule of their works or actions. Another method to disguise one's identity is to employ a pseudonym . For some people, their name
2632-713: Is known as Junichiro Koizumi in English. Japan has requested that Western publications cease this practice of placing their names in the Western name order and revert to the Eastern name order. Mongols use the Eastern naming order ( patronymic followed by given name), which is also used there when rendering the names of other East Asians. However, Russian and other Western names (with the exception of Hungarian names) are still written in Western order. Telugu people from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana traditionally use family name, given name order. The family name first format
2726-507: Is known. When taken together as a word-group , they all relate to that one individual. In many cultures, the term is synonymous with the birth name or legal name of the individual. In linguistic classification, personal names are studied within a specific onomastic discipline, called anthroponymy . As of 2023, aside from humans, dolphins and elephants have been known to use personal names. In Western culture , nearly all individuals possess at least one given name (also known as
2820-457: Is not referred to as Jinping Xi. Its sluggish response by Western publications was met with ire by Japanese politician Taro Kono , who stated that "If you can write Moon Jae-in and Xi Jinping in correct order, you can surely write Abe Shinzo the same way." Chinese, Koreans, and other East Asian peoples, except for those traveling or living outside of China and areas influenced by China, rarely reverse their Chinese and Korean language names to
2914-621: Is one of the few Western countries to use the Eastern naming order where the given name is placed after the family name. Mordvins use two names – a Mordvin name and a Russian name. The Mordvin name is written in the Eastern name order. Usually, the Mordvin surname is the same as the Russian surname, for example Sharononj Sandra (Russian: Aleksandr Sharonov ), but it can be different at times, for example Yovlan Olo (Russian: Vladimir Romashkin). In official documents as well as in verbal speech,
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3008-454: Is possible as well, though rare. A few examples of the practice under German law, if "Herr (Mr) Schmidt" and "Frau (Miss) Meyer" marry: All children of a family have to receive the same non-hyphenated Nachname at birth, which may be either the mother's or the father's Nachname (traditionally it was the father's). If the parents adopted an Ehename this is the Nachname of the child. It
3102-482: Is sometimes the second or third name in the sequence of given names on official record, even though it is the given name in daily use from childhood. For example, in the resume submitted by mathematician Emmy Noether to Erlangen University in 1907, the underlining of Emmy communicates that this is the Rufname , even though it is the second of two official given names. In Germany, the chosen name must be approved by
3196-486: Is strictly forbidden to give children Doppelnamen if it is not the Ehename . The latter case can arise with traditional aristocratic Doppelnamen (e.g. Faber-Castell). In Austria (§ 93 ABGB), a couple can choose either of their surnames as married name. In the default case, this is the surname of the groom. The partner who is changing surnames (usually the bride) has the possibility to use their unmarried name alongside
3290-420: Is too common to allow an easy identification. For example, former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is often called just Zapatero . In Argentina, only the father's last name is used, in most cases. In Portugal, Brazil and most other Portuguese-speaking countries, at least two surnames are used, often three or four, typically some or none inherited from the mother and some or all inherited from
3384-837: The Eastern name order , began to be prominently used in Ancient China and subsequently influenced the East Asian cultural sphere ( China , Japan, Korea, and Vietnam) and particularly among the Chinese communities in Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, or the Philippines. It is also used in the southern and northeastern parts of India, as well as in Central Europe by Hungary and Romania . In Uganda,
3478-866: The High German consonant shift . Low German is further divided into Dutch Low Saxon , West Low German and East Low German . Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League . It was the predominant language in Northern Germany, and several translations of the Bible were printed in Low German. That predominance changed in the 16th century. In 1534, the Luther Bible was printed by Martin Luther , and that translation
3572-521: The Late Middle Ages . Many of such surnames are derived from nicknames . They are generally classified into four groups by derivation : given names, occupational designations, bodily attributes, and toponyms (including references to named buildings). Also, many family names display characteristic features of the dialect of the region they originated in. The preposition von ("of") was used to distinguish nobility ; for example, if someone
3666-512: The Machiguenga of the Amazon, do not use personal names. A person's personal name is usually their full legal name ; however, some people use only part of their full legal name, a title , nickname , pseudonym or other chosen name that is different from their legal name, and reserve their legal name for legal and administrative purposes. It is nearly universal for people to have names;
3760-475: The Self respect movement in the 1950s and 1960s campaigned against the use of one's caste as part of the name. Patronymic naming system is: apart from their given name, people are described by their patronymic, that is given names (not surnames) of their father. Older generations used the initials system where the father's given name appears as an initial, for eg: Tamil Hindu people's names simply use initials as
3854-646: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child declares that a child has the right to a name from birth. Common components of names given at birth can include: In Spain and most Latin American countries, two surnames are used, one being the father's family name and the other being the mother's family name. In Spain, the second surname is sometimes informally used alone if the first one
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3948-412: The dialect continuum of High German and Low German. In the past (roughly until the end of World War II ), there was a dialect continuum of all Continental West Germanic languages , as nearly any pair of contiguous dialects were perfectly mutually intelligible. The German dialect continuum is typically divided into High German and Low German . The terms derive from the geographic characteristics of
4042-416: The nobiliary particle von (meaning "of") or zu (meaning "to", sometimes "at"), often von und zu are also found together (meaning "of and to/at"). The legal rules for these names are the same as those for other Nachnamen , which gives rise to a number of cases where people legally bear such names but are not recognized by the associations of formerly noble families in Germany , which continue to apply
4136-425: The souls of the namesakes are one, so they traditionally refer to the junior namesakes, not just by the names ( atiq ), but also by kinship title, which applies across gender and generation without implications of disrespect or seniority. In Judaism , someone's name is considered intimately connected with their fate, and adding a name (e.g. on the sickbed) may avert a particular danger. Among Ashkenazi Jews it
4230-420: The 1990s, there has however been a trend of parents picking non-German forms of names, either for originality, or influenced by international celebrities, e.g. Liam (Gaelic form of William ) rather than the German equivalent Wilhelm and Mila . Most surnames are derived either from given names ( patronym ), occupations, or from geographical origin, less often from bodily attributes. They became heritable with
4324-465: The 19th-century classification nomenclature was based primarily on historical territories rather than linguistic clusters, the traditional system can imply greater similarities between dialects than is linguistically warranted. The best-known example of this phenomenon is found within the Franconian cluster , which is divided into Low Franconian , Middle Franconian and Upper Franconian even though
4418-869: The Americas were established) and the most powerful German states then being located in Middle and Southern Germany. The 18th and 19th centuries were marked by mass education, with the language of the schools being Standard German. Today, Low Saxon dialects are still widespread, especially among the elderly in the Northern parts of Germany. Some local media take care not to let the Low Saxon language die out, so there are several newspapers that have recurring articles in Low Saxon. The North German Broadcasting ( Norddeutscher Rundfunk ) also offers television programs, such as "Talk op Platt" and radio programs in Low Saxon. On
4512-634: The Family name comes in first before the Given name when the full name is spelled out. German dialects German dialects are the various traditional local varieties of the German language . Though varied by region, those of the southern half of Germany beneath the Benrath line are dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant shift , and the dialect continuum that connects German to
4606-1106: The Franks and incorporated into their realm at the close of the Migration Period . For example, the Germanic tribe of the Bavarii (subjugated by the Franks during the 6th century) gave their name to the later stem duchy of Bavaria (817–1180), which itself would lend its name to the traditional Bavarian dialect grouping described in the early 19th century. As their understanding of the Second Germanic consonant shift progressed, linguists (when applicable) further divided these dialects into groupings based on their degree of participation of this consonant shift, with "Low" (German: nieder- ) signifying little to no participation, "Middle" (or "Central"; German: mittel- ) meaning medium to high participation and "Upper" (German: ober- ) conveying high to full participation. Because
4700-440: The German conventions parallel the naming conventions in most of Western and Central Europe, including English , Dutch , Italian , and French . There are some vestiges of a patronymic system as they survive in parts of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, but these do not form part of the official name. Women traditionally adopted their husband's name upon marriage and would occasionally retain their maiden name by hyphenation , in
4794-509: The German standard language. As a result, the second half of the 20th century saw a shift in academic customs, with many linguists instead describing dialect clusters based on the geographical area in which they are spoken (i.e. Meuse-Rhenish or Westphalian ) and their degree of participation with the Second Germanic consonant shift, or, such as in the case of the influential linguists Friedrich Maurer and Theodor Frings , creating
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#17327655963564888-698: The German-speaking parts of Switzerland and Italy. Standard High German is based on Central and Upper German. The Moselle Franconian varieties spoken in Luxembourg have been officially standardized and institutionalized and so are usually considered a separate language, known as Luxembourgish . Halcnovian , Wymysorys , Sathmarisch and Transylvanian Saxon are High German dialects of Poland and Romania . The High German varieties spoken by Ashkenazi Jews (mostly in Tsarist Russia, then
4982-548: The Low Franconian (incl. Dutch) dialects are not most closely related to Middle and Upper Franconian dialects within the larger continuum. In fact, of all German dialects, the Low Rhenish dialect (the only Low Franconian dialect spoken in Germany itself) is the most divergent when compared to Standard German, whereas the Middle and Upper Franconian dialects are fairly similar in their overall structure and phonology to
5076-415: The Philippines. Within alphabetic lists and catalogs, however, the family name is generally put first, with the given name(s) following and separated by a comma (e.g. Jobs, Steve ), representing the "lexical name order". This convention is followed by most Western libraries, as well as on many administrative forms. In some countries, such as France, or countries previously part of the former Soviet Union,
5170-618: The River Main and the southern edge of the Lowlands. High Franconian dialects are transitional dialects in between the two greater High German groups. High Franconian dialects include East Franconian and South Franconian . Upper German dialects include Alemannic in the broad sense (incl. Alsatian , Swabian ) and Bavarian ( Southern Bavarian , Central Bavarian and Northern Bavarian ) and are spoken in parts of northeastern France, southern Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, and in
5264-448: The Western naming order. Western publications also preserve this Eastern naming order for Chinese, Korean and other East Asian individuals, with the family name first, followed by the given name. In China, Cantonese names of Hong Kong people are usually written in the Eastern order with or without a comma (e.g. Bai Chiu En or Bai, Chiu En). Outside Hong Kong, they are usually written in Western order. Unlike other East Asian countries,
5358-564: The Westernized name order back to the Eastern name order in official documents (e.g. identity documents , academic certificates , birth certificates , marriage certificates , among others), which means writing family name first in capital letters and has recommended that the same format be used among the general Japanese public. Japan has also requested Western publications to respect this change, such as not using Shinzo Abe but rather Abe Shinzo, similar to how Chinese leader Xi Jinping
5452-410: The beginning of central demographic records in the early modern period . The Vorname (in English forename ) is usually given to a child by the parents shortly after birth. It is common to give a child several Vornamen (forenames), one of them intended for everyday use and known as the Rufname ("appellation name" or "call name"). This Rufname is often underlined on official documents, as it
5546-530: The case of the American presidents George H. W. Bush and his son George W. Bush , distinct middle initials serve this purpose instead, necessitating their more frequent use. The improvised and unofficial "Bush Sr." and "Bush Jr." were nevertheless tossed about in banter on many entertainment journalism opinion panels; alternatively, they became distinguished merely as "W." and "H. W.". In formal address, personal names may be preceded by pre-nominal letters , giving title (e.g. Dr., Captain ), or social rank, which
5640-466: The comma may be dropped and the swapped form of the name be uttered as such, perceived as a mark of bureaucratic formality. In the USSR and now Russia, personal initials are often written in the "family name - given name - patronymic name" order when signing official documents ( Russian : ФИО , romanized : FIO ), e.g. " Rachmaninoff S.V. ". The order family name, given name , commonly known as
5734-540: The contrary, those surnames most quickly recognized as probably Jewish in origin are distinctly poetical ones, probably as they were made-up choices by the people themselves (e.g. Rosenzweig ). Immigration, often sponsored by local authorities, also brought foreign family names into the German-speaking regions. Depending on regional history, geography and economics, many family names have French , Dutch , Italian , Hungarian or Slavic (e.g. Polish ) origins. Sometimes they survived in their original form; in other cases,
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#17327655963565828-611: The dialects of the regions of the founders. For example, Pennsylvania German and Volga German resemble dialects of the Baden-Württemberg , Hutterite German resembles dialects of Carinthia and Venezuelan Alemán Coloniero is a Low Alemannic variant. Amana German is a dialect of West Central German . It is spoken in the Amana Colonies in Iowa , which were founded by Inspirationalists of German origin. Amana
5922-544: The example, Leung and Wong) shared in the middle. Therefore, the anglicised names are written in the Western order (Tony Leung, Lawrence Wong) and the Chinese names are written in the Eastern order (Leung Chiu-wai, 梁朝偉; Wong Shyun Tsai, 黄循财). Japanese use the Eastern naming order (family name followed by given name). In contrast to China and Korea, due to familiarity, Japanese names of contemporary people are usually "switched" when people who have such names are mentioned in media in Western countries; for example, Koizumi Jun'ichirō
6016-600: The family name should be written in all capitals when engaging in formal correspondence or writing for an international audience. In Hungarian, the Eastern order of Japanese names is officially kept, and Hungarian transliteration is used (e.g. Mijazaki Hajao in Hungarian ), but Western name order is also sometimes used with English transliteration (e.g. Hayao Miyazaki). This is also true for Hungarian names in Japanese, e.g. Ferenc Puskás (Japanese: プシュカーシュ・フェレンツ , written in
6110-413: The father, in that order. Co-parental siblings most often share an identical string of surnames. For collation, shortening, and formal addressing, the last of these surnames is typically preferred. A Portuguese person named António de Oliveira Guterres would therefore be known commonly as António Guterres. In Russia , the first name and family name conform to the usual Western practice, but the middle name
6204-468: The first three names (given name, father's name, father's father's name) and the family name at the end, to limit the name in government-issued ID. Men's names and women's names are constructed using the same convention, and a person's name is not altered if they are married. Some cultures, including Western ones, also add (or once added) patronymics or matronymics , for instance as a middle name as with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (whose father's given name
6298-475: The first) is used in normal speech. Another naming convention that is used mainly in the Arabic culture and in different other areas across Africa and Asia is connecting the person's given name with a chain of names, starting with the name of the person's father and then the father's father and so on, usually ending with the family name (tribe or clan name). However, the legal full name of a person usually contains
6392-647: The former Soviet Union and Poland) have several unique features and are usually considered as a separate language. Known as Yiddish , it is the only Germanic language that does not (only) use the Latin script as its standard script . Since it developed in the Danube area, there are some similarities with the Central and Upper German dialects of that region. The dialects of German that are or were spoken primarily in colonies or communities founded by German-speakers resemble
6486-457: The lands that they own. The French developed the method of putting the term by which the person is referred in small capital letters. It is this habit which transferred to names of Eastern Asia, as seen below. An example is that of Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch Gilbert du Motier, who is known as the Marquis de La Fayette . He possessed both the lands of Motier and La Fayette. The bare place name
6580-419: The local Standesamt (civil registry office). Although a 1980 law previously stated that the name must indicate the gender of the child, a 2008 court ruling unanimously upheld the right of parents to decide their child's name, stating that the only legal limitation is that the name does not negatively affect the well-being of the child. Among German nobility , a fashion arose in the early modern period to give
6674-530: The local dialects, such as the south German, Austrian and Swiss diminutive endings -l -el , -erl , -le or -li as in Kleibl , Schäuble or Nägeli (from 'Nagel', nail). The same is true for regional variants in the naming of professions. While a barrel-maker from Hamburg may have been called "Böttcher", a Bavarian could easily have been called "Schäffler". The surnames of the German Jews are
6768-638: The major dialect groupings of German dialects are typically named after so-called " stem duchies " or "tribal duchies" (German: Stammesherzogtümer ) by early German linguists, among whom the Brothers Grimm were especially influential. These tribal duchies came into existence at the end of the Early Middle Ages within the Holy Roman Empire and were thought to have been continuations of earlier tribal lands which were subjugated by
6862-454: The married name with hyphenation. In Switzerland (Art. 160 ZGB), the couple can opt to both retain their unmarried name, or the couple can choose to use either surname as their married name. If both retain their name, they need to declare which will be the surname of any future children. Titles of former aristocrats (like Graf for "Count") have become parts of the Nachname in Germany, giving longer names of several words, usually including
6956-538: The most being in the Dakotas . German was at one time the lingua franca in many American regions, with high density in the Midwest, but St. Louis , Milwaukee , New Orleans , New York City and a great many others cities had a very high German-speaking population. By 1900, over 554 Standard German-language newspapers were in circulation. The rise in American ethnic nativist pride, especially during World War I , led to
7050-435: The name of a deceased chief becomes taboo . If he is named after a common object or concept, a different word has to be used for it. In Cameroon , there is "a great deal of mobility" within naming structure. Some Cameroonians, particularly Anglophone Cameroonians, use "a characteristic sequencing" starting with a first surname, followed by a forename then a second surname (e.g. Awanto Josephine Nchang), while others begin with
7144-426: The neighboring varieties of Low Franconian ( Dutch ) and Frisian . The varieties of German are conventionally grouped into Upper German , Central German and Low German ; Upper and Central German form the High German subgroup. Standard German is a standardized form of High German, developed in the early modern period based on a combination of Central German and Upper German varieties. Traditionally, all of
7238-512: The old rules of the German Empire in their publications. Most of these cases come about when a woman of noble descent marries a man with no title, and the two adopt the woman's name as their common Nachname , which was impossible under imperial law. Personal name A personal name , full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek prósōpon – person, and onoma –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal
7332-417: The ordering "traditional family name first, Western origin given name second" is also frequently used. When East Asian names are transliterated into the Latin alphabet , some people prefer to convert them to the Western order, while others leave them in the Eastern order but write the family name in capital letters . To avoid confusion, there is a convention in some language communities, e.g., French, that
7426-641: The other hand, Northern Germany is considered to be the region that speaks the purest Standard German, and in everyday life, little influence of dialect is heard. Still, there are notable differences in pronunciation, even among North German speakers such as the lengthening of vowels and differences in accentuation. There are also some North German expressions that are in use even in Standard High German but are seldom heard in Southern Germany, such as "plietsch" for "intelligent". High German
7520-493: The regions of German-speaking Europe, especially visible in the forms of hypocorisms . These differences are still perceptible in the list of most popular names, even though they are marginalized by super-regional fashionable trends: As of 2012, the top ten given names of Baden-Württemberg (Southern Germany) and of Schleswig-Holstein (Northern Germany) share the entries Ben, Paul, Finn, Luca, Max (male), Mia, Emma, Lea, Leonie, Anna, Lena, Hanna , while Schleswig-Holstein retains
7614-576: The roles of the first and middle given names are reversed, with the first given name being used to honor a family member and the middle name being used as the usual method to address someone informally. Many Catholic families choose a saint 's name as their child's middle name or this can be left until the child's confirmation when they choose a saint's name for themselves. Cultures that use patronymics or matronymics will often give middle names to distinguish between two similarly named people: e.g., Einar Karl Stefánsson and Einar Guðmundur Stefánsson. This
7708-530: The same Eastern order "Puskás Ferenc"). Starting from the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Western name order was primarily used among the Japanese nobility when identifying themselves to non-Asians with their romanized names. As a result, in popular Western publications, this order became increasingly used for Japanese names in the subsequent decades. In 2020, the Government of Japan reverted
7802-424: The same culture. Many are drawn from mythology, some of which span multiple language areas. This has resulted in related names in different languages (e.g. George , Georg , Jorge ), which might be translated or might be maintained as immutable proper nouns. In earlier times, Scandinavian countries followed patronymic naming, with people effectively called "X's son/daughter"; this is now the case only in Iceland and
7896-638: The same dialectal region, pronunciation, syntax and words particular to specific towns even only a few miles apart can create even more variation. In the Black Forest region alone, there was a newspaper request for people to report what word they used for the term "Dragonfly." Sixty words were collected as reported from responders for the term. When spoken in their purest form, Low German, most Upper German, High Franconian dialects and even some Central German dialects are unintelligible to those versed only in Standard German. However, all German dialects belong to
7990-457: The senior or junior generation (or both) may be designed with the name suffix "Sr." or "Jr.", respectively (in the former case, retrospectively); or, more formally, by an ordinal Roman number such as "I", "II" or "III". In the Catholic tradition, papal names are distinguished in sequence, and may be reused many times, such as John XXIII (the 23rd pope assuming the papal name "John"). In
8084-453: The speakers immigrated from German-speaking areas of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. The impact of nineteenth century German immigration to southern Chile was such that Valdivia was for a while a Spanish-German bilingual city with "German signboards and placards alongside the Spanish". The prestige the German language had made it acquire qualities of a superstratum in southern Chile. The Colonia Tovar dialect, or Alemán Coloniero,
8178-590: The spelling would be adapted to German (the Slavic ending ic becoming the German -itz or -itsch or Baltic "-kis" becoming "-ke"). Over time, the spelling often changed to reflect native German pronunciation ( Sloothaak for the Dutch Sloothaag ); but some names, such as those of French Huguenots settling in Prussia , retained their spelling but with the pronunciation that would come naturally to
8272-400: The syllables or logograms of given names are not hyphenated or compounded but instead separated by a space (e.g. Chiu En). Outside East Asia, it is often confused with the second syllables with middle names regardless of name order. Some computer systems could not handle given name inputs with space characters. Some Chinese, Malaysians and Singaporeans may have an anglicised given name, which
8366-615: The terrain in which each is found rather than depicting social status. As the result of the flight and expulsion of Germans following World War II, particularly from post-war Poland , the Czech Republic , Hungary and Yugoslavia ( Danube Swabians ), the territorial extent of German was considerably reduced. Significant dialects such as the East Pomeranian dialect , most varieties of Silesian German , Prussian dialects and Bohemian German dialects gradually disappeared as
8460-3180: The traditionally northern (Low German) forms Lasse (male) and Neele (female) in the top ten. The following table gives the most popular given names in Germany for every tenth year (since 1890). Anna, Martha / Marta, Frieda / Frida, Berta / Beertha, Emma, Marie, Maria, Margarethe / Margarete, Erna, Elsa Carl / Karl, Wilhelm, Otto, Heinrich, Friedrich, Paul, Hans, Gustav, Max, Ernst Anna, Martha / Marta, Frieda / Frida, Emma, Marie, Elisabeth, Maria, Berta / Bertha, Gertrud, Margarethe / Margarete Wilhelm, Carl / Karl, Heinrich, Hermann, Friedrich, Paul, Otto, Ernst, Hans, Walter / Walther Gertrud, Erna, Martha / Marta, Hertha / Herta, Margarethe / Margarete, Anna, Käthe, Elisabeth, Frieda / Frida, Hildegard, Walter / Walther, Carl / Karl, Hans, Wilhelm, Otto, Curt / Kurt, Heinrich, Hermann, Paul, Helmut / Helmuth Ilse, Hildegard, Gertrud, Irmgard, Gerda, Lieselotte, Elfriede, Ursula, Edith, Erna Hans, Carl / Karl, Heinz, Curt / Kurt, Werner, Walter / Walther, Günter / Günther, Herbert, Helmut / Helmuth, Gerhard, Rolf Ursula, Helga, Gisela, Inge, Gerda, Ingrid, Ingeborg, Ilse, Edith, Hildegard Günter / Günther, Hans, Carl / Karl, Heinz, Werner, Gerhard, Horst, Helmut / Helmuth, Walter / Walther, Curt / Kurt, Rolf Karin, Ingrid, Helga, Renate, Elke, Ursula, Erika, Christa, Gisela, Monika Peter, Klaus / Claus, Hans, Jürgen, Dieter, Günter / Günther, Horst, Manfred, Uwe, Wolfgang Brigitte, Renate, Karin, Angelika, Monika, Ursula, Ingrid, Marion, Barbara, Gisela, Regina Peter, Hans, Wolfgang, Klaus / Claus, Manfred, Jürgen, Michael, Bernd, Werner, Günter / Günther Sabine, Susanne, Petra, Birgit, Gabriele, Andrea, Martina, Ute, Heike, Angelika Thomas, Michael, Andreas, Peter, Frank, Uwe, Klaus / Claus, Stefan / Stephan, Jürgen, Jörg Nicole, Anja, Claudia, Stefanie / Stephanie, Andrea, Tanja, Katrin / Catrin / Kathrin, Susanne, Petra, Sabine Stefan / Stephan, Michael, Andreas, Thomas, Frank, Markus / Marcus, Christian, Oliver, Matthias, Torsten Julia, Katrin / Catrin / Kathrin, Stefanie / Stephanie, Melanie, Sandra, Anja, Nicole, Nadine, Christina, Sabrina Christian, Michael, Sebastian, Stefan / Stephan, Jan, Daniel, Martin, Dennis, Alexander, Thomas Julia, Sarah / Sara, Jennifer, Katharina, Lisa, Christina, Jessika / Jessica, Anna, Laura, Melanie Jan, Tobias, Christian, Alexander, Daniel, Patrick, Dennis, Sebastian, Marcel, Philipp Anna, Lea / Leah, Sarah / Sara, Hannah / Hanna, Michelle, Laura, Lisa, Lara, Lena, Julia Lukas / Lucas, Jan, Tim, Finn / Fynn, Leon, Niklas / Niclas, Tom, Jonas, Jannik / Yannik / Yannick / Yannic, Luca / Luka Mia, Hannah / Hanna, Lena, Lea / Leah, Emma, Anna, Leonie / Leoni, Lilli / Lilly / Lili, Emily / Emilie, Lina Leon, Lukas / Lucas, Ben, Finn / Fynn, Jonas, Paul, Luis / Louis, Maximilian, Luca / Luka, Felix Mia, Emilia, Hannah / Hanna, Emma, Sofia / Sophia, Lina, Ella, Mila, Clara, Lea / Leah Noah / Noa, Ben, Mateo / Matteo / Matheo / Mattheo, Finn / Fynn, Leon, Elias / Elyas, Paul, Henry / Henri, Luis / Louis, Felix Surnames ( family name ; Nachname , Familienname ) were gradually introduced in German-speaking Europe during
8554-466: Was Ilya), or as a last name as with Björk Guðmundsdóttir (whose father is named Guðmundur ) or Heiðar Helguson (whose mother was named Helga). Similar concepts are present in Eastern cultures. However, in some areas of the world, many people are known by a single name, and so are said to be mononymous . Still other cultures lack the concept of specific, fixed names designating people, either individually or collectively. Certain isolated tribes, such as
8648-532: Was baron of the village of Veltheim, his family name would be von Veltheim . In modern times, people who were elevated to nobility often had a 'von' added to their name. For example, Johann Wolfgang Goethe had his name changed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . This practice ended with the abolition of the monarchy in Germany and Austria in 1919. Sometimes von is also used in geographical names that are not noble, as in von Däniken . With family names originating locally, many names display particular characteristics of
8742-615: Was recently re-introduced as an option in the Faroe Islands . It is legally possible in Finland as people of Icelandic ethnic naming are specifically named in the name law. When people of this name convert to standards of other cultures, the phrase is often condensed into one word, creating last names like Jacobsen (Jacob's Son). There is a range of personal naming systems: Different cultures have different conventions for personal names. When names are repeated across generations,
8836-542: Was used formerly to refer to the person who owned it, rather than the land itself (the word "Gloucester" in "What will Gloucester do?" meant the Duke of Gloucester ). As a development, the bare name of a ship in the Royal Navy meant its captain (e.g., "Cressy didn't learn from Aboukir") while the name with an article referred to the ship (e.g., "The Cressy is foundering"). A personal naming system, or anthroponymic system,
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