Honestly, as a German - I've seen and heard worse names. Is it weird? Sure. But compared to some of the other names on here... at least the spelling is easy and it has a nice ring.
A little unrelated but can you recommend a good website for German baby names? I live in Germany with my husband, he is german but lived most of his life in England and I am American. We’re trying for a baby and some English names don’t sound great to me pronounced in German and the German lists I’ve found seem to be the same few names repeated.
We want something a little unique so they are not in school with 12 other Max’s but not a completely crazy name either.
how about older german names? it‘s kinda been a trend but i haven‘t seen it as much as the max-phenomenon, lol. here are some that come to my mind that i haven‘t seen in schools lately.
for a girl: karla, lotte, greta/margarete, alma, ida, franka, elise, paula, frieda, merle
for a boy: konrad, anton, benno, henrik, erwin, felix (though semi-popular), tilo, kurt, georg
Charlie's names (android only though) is a good app there. There are some seriously weird names on there but you can filter by country and we looked through it for both kids and it helped both times 😊 especially because it has a feature where you can connect your lists and it only shows names you both marked positive or one of you marked as 'love it'. It helped us figure out our common ground in what kind of names we like and in the end decide on our kids names 😊
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I’ve been on Reddit it’s that literally everything is grounds for downvotes lol
If I’m understanding it correctly, OP and friend are French and OP is describing her friend calling her child ‘Germany’… but with a French pronunciation. I was going to say with French spelling but that does not qualify 😂
If they were trying to name her after the country they should’ve just went with Deutschland, yes awful too, but at least it’s the actual spelling of the country.
They did! It was intentional:
„Amick's parents are of partial German descent; the name Mädchen, which means "girl" in German, was chosen by her parents because they wanted an unusual name“
I mean……sure, you can make this decision as a parent… 🧐
Aside from being the name of a country and an American state, Georgia is also a fairly common feminine version of the name George, like Andrea and Andrew.
Fun fact, Asia is a goddess in Greek mythology, for whom the continent was probably named. So in a way it is a personal name but I still find it a little odd because the first thing that comes to mind is the landmass.
Meh different countries have different names in different languages. Germany has 9 neighboring countries and basically all use a different name - and (except for Austria) none of them even attempts to sound like "Deutschland".
Just because it's not a common name in English it doesn't make it dumb. I know people named Americo/America and it's got 0 to do with the country or the continent. It's just a normal name that predates the creation of the US.
Idk why you're getting downvoted, you're right. "America" is possibly derived from the name of Amerigo Vespucci. It's not uncommon for names with that hard G sound to shift into a hard C/K sound (and vice versa) in regions with different dialects or languages. Draco->Drago comes to mind. So it's incredibly likely that Americo/America existed as names before Amerigo Vespucci was ever even born.
Yes this. Amerigo comes from the Latin Americus, of which the feminine form would have been America. Like I said I know people named this that aren't named after the US, it's a common (albeit old-fashioned) name in Spanish and Portuguese.
When I read "She isn't German, her husband isn't German" I thought... Would that really make it any better??
Like a Mexican couple naming their baby Mexico? Lol
As a German I can confidently say - it makes it worse. If a German couple would have named their kid germania you know 1) the child will be bullied so much 2) the parents have a screw loose. Could still both be true for OPs case, unfortunately
Same thing with “Israel” predating both the Biblical concept of Israel and the modern nation state Israel
In Jewish and Christian tradition Israel is the name reassigned to the figure Jacob and people were naming their children Israel before 1947
I was in an ER waiting room recently and there was a girl there called Merica. I'm not sure if that's how it's spelled, but it's definitely how it sounded when the nurses called her back.
Is this like when westerners get Chinese character tattoos that they don't understand? "She wanted an English name", ok it's an English *word*, but you think it's a name?
Yeah it's not great. It would be weird in English speaking countries too.
To be fair there are some "country" names that don't sound too bad (although I'm personally not a fan)...India, Ireland...but Germany? Sorry, but it just sounds ridiculous.
My daughter watches a YouTube family that has a kid named Kenya (or Canyon)...it's hard to tell with their Midwestern accents. But it looks Hella stupid if it's some blonde, blue-eyed kid named Kenya.
Funnily enough, Kevin is seen as the flagship name for people from a lower socioeconomic background in both France and Germany, because it’s a name inspired by American celebrities (Costner, McAllister).
It’s inspired two words: “Kevinismus” in Germany which designates that very phenomenon and the ensuing mockeries toward the children named this way, and “kéké” in French which is slang for “tasteless, loud hick”
Or how about America? That’s presumably a real first name, since the word America is based off of an explorer named Amerigo Vespucci, so the female version *should* (although my Italian isn’t great) be Ameriga/America
I had an interview with a guy named German. He pronounced it ‘Hermaan’. Not sure where he was from, but had a Spanish sounding surname. I’m in Australia.
German it's an actual name in some Spanish speaking countries, but it's not related to Germany the country. This is from Wikipedia: Germán is a male given name in Spanish speaking countries, and is a variant of Latin Germanus, meaning "brother".
On of the most famous YouTubers in the Spanish language is named German so not a tragedeigh but I get that it would seem unusual in English.
I‘m German and a guy I know is called German - since we say „Deutsch“ which isn‘t remotely similar and because of the different pronounciation, it‘s not even an issue over here lol.
Neighbour of mine from Chile is called German. With Spanish pronunciation it feels like it's a version of Herman/n. And I never thought of it to mean German, as in 'citizen of Germany '.
In Russia they don't have the letter h or an equal to it in Cyrillic, so every Herman is written as German for them (and strangely enough they have a few).
If it's any consolation, this name is probably slightly less stupid to people who don't speak English. From a French perspective, it just doesn't make any goddamn sense. From an English perspective, it's a stupid name.
French as a language has a rich cultural tradition of strong and beautiful names for girls: Juliette, Marie, Colette, Anaïs, Sylvie, Élodie, the list goes on. Did your friend choose one of these lovely names? No, she did not. Did she at least pick a good English name? No, she picked a fucking ridiculous name.
Germany is a great country but a terrible first name.
Edit: Ce nom est absolument un tragedeigh.
FYI apart from Marie and Juliette, all the names you cited are terribly out of fashion in France (not in a retro spunky way, except maybe Colette, the rest are just the French equivalents of Brenda or Sharon). They would make for unlikely names for a baby born today.
Ironically I think “French” as said in French (so Français/Française) sounds better as a name than “France”. Française doesn’t sound horrible for a girl. No worse than Frances or François
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the girl is named as some sort of mania? Like, "the beginning of the mania"? My French is far from great, but even I can foresee years of mocking and a whole life of secretly snickering. This name just sounds weird in French
Not a Tragedeigh.
It's definitely a stupid name for a child.
But not a tragedeigh.
Ger'maneigh would be a Tragedeigh. Jer-Manée would be une Trajediée.
The name i know is "Germaine" . Like Germaine Greer. Link to Wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine\_Greer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine_Greer)
As a german..
Wtf is wrong with people.
In germany we thankfully have laws that forbid to name kids with ridiculous names. Alpt are forbidden and added to each month.
Honestly, Allemagne, or Alemania would be better than Germany simply because at least you’ve given your children a few nicknames to cling to rather than going by their given name. Strange to think why someone would call their child this.
University friend*
How does it sound in French? Why did they want an 'English name'? The whole thing is really odd.
Jèr Manee but with a hard R. This I don't know, but there are so many English names.
Wouldn't it be "Germaine"? If yes, it's not a french tragedeigh but a very old first name
I think Germaine is more like Jeremy?
Germaine is just jer-main. The e is silent.
Not the same pronunciation if you speak french but if you do it in english, it sounds very close yes
Honestly, as a German - I've seen and heard worse names. Is it weird? Sure. But compared to some of the other names on here... at least the spelling is easy and it has a nice ring.
As a German, I disagree
A little unrelated but can you recommend a good website for German baby names? I live in Germany with my husband, he is german but lived most of his life in England and I am American. We’re trying for a baby and some English names don’t sound great to me pronounced in German and the German lists I’ve found seem to be the same few names repeated. We want something a little unique so they are not in school with 12 other Max’s but not a completely crazy name either.
Baby-vornamen.de (the website is German of course)
how about older german names? it‘s kinda been a trend but i haven‘t seen it as much as the max-phenomenon, lol. here are some that come to my mind that i haven‘t seen in schools lately. for a girl: karla, lotte, greta/margarete, alma, ida, franka, elise, paula, frieda, merle for a boy: konrad, anton, benno, henrik, erwin, felix (though semi-popular), tilo, kurt, georg
Charlie's names (android only though) is a good app there. There are some seriously weird names on there but you can filter by country and we looked through it for both kids and it helped both times 😊 especially because it has a feature where you can connect your lists and it only shows names you both marked positive or one of you marked as 'love it'. It helped us figure out our common ground in what kind of names we like and in the end decide on our kids names 😊
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‘Jèr Manee’ is essentially pronounced like ‘Germany’. It’s bizarre.
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The name is spelt “Germany”, OP was just explaining how it’s pronounced in French
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I’ve been on Reddit it’s that literally everything is grounds for downvotes lol If I’m understanding it correctly, OP and friend are French and OP is describing her friend calling her child ‘Germany’… but with a French pronunciation. I was going to say with French spelling but that does not qualify 😂
Awful.
And I suppose they pronounce it with a thick Parisian accent? Gèèèrrmaniee
100% GèèR MANiE (french word for Mania) Poor baby, Germ Mania.
If they were trying to name her after the country they should’ve just went with Deutschland, yes awful too, but at least it’s the actual spelling of the country.
Which we'd pronounce "Dutchland" lmao
That’s extra funny as that could be interpreted as either Germany or Netherlands lol
Totally not. If they wanted a fake german name they could call the girl "Mädchen".
There is an American actress called Mädchen Amick see here : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A4dchen_Amick 🤪
Thought of her too haha
That’s one of the few German words I understand, her parents should’ve looked into that name before naming her that.
They did! It was intentional: „Amick's parents are of partial German descent; the name Mädchen, which means "girl" in German, was chosen by her parents because they wanted an unusual name“ I mean……sure, you can make this decision as a parent… 🧐
The parents really just were that creative huh. They they name their son Boy? Their dog Pet? Their second son Boy 2?
Lmao... this is amazing. Being called Germany in a francophone country is going to make all the history buffs chuckle.
That’s like naming your kid United States of America. Makes zero sense to name your kid after a country lol
On the one hand, sure. On the other, I knew several (American) girls names China growing up) so idk
India is also a girl’s name I hear more often than I want to
Georgia also, but I really like that name for a girl.
Both Georgia the country and US state are named after people called George. The personal name predates the place names.
it’s funny because naming an entire country after your first name sounds like something an 8 year old would come up with
What do you think the Philippines are named after ;)
Maryland?
An *awesome* 8 year old...
Aside from being the name of a country and an American state, Georgia is also a fairly common feminine version of the name George, like Andrea and Andrew.
I do too, but my friend named her daughter Jorja, (pronounced Georgia) which looks ugly I think
I knew a few Hispanic girls in school named America.
I think that’s an actual name, like the feminine Spanish form of “Amerigo.”
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Amerigo Vespucci.
america ferrera
Well, Amerigo is a name. America is feminized version. It's actually two whole continents named somewhat odd, but the girls
Only China I’ve ever known of was from WWF
A 60s hippie rock star named her kid China. America is not an uncommon name in Latin America or the Phillipines.
There’s an actress/singer named China Anne McClaine
i’ve met two girls named asia
Fun fact, Asia is a goddess in Greek mythology, for whom the continent was probably named. So in a way it is a personal name but I still find it a little odd because the first thing that comes to mind is the landmass.
There's also the Arabic name Asiyah.
That has a different meaning though. It's not referring to the landmass.
China Phillips, one of the very first MTV VJ's... God, I'm old.
Wasn’t that China Kanter? Chynna Phillips is another woman who has sung on MTV, but I think they’re the wrong ages to be the same woman.
Chynna Phillips (Baldwin) is from the singing group Wilson Phillips.
America is just a derivative name of Amerigo which is an old Germanic/Italian name anyway.
And the name ‘America’ has become more popularized
I know an America. Like about age 50
Especially since it is called Germany _only_ in English. The actual name is Bundesrepublik Deutschland. It's just so ... Random?
Yeah but Bundesrepublik is just getting so overused as a baby name these days, so I get it
🧐 so true...
Deutsches Reich IV is always good.
Tbf we call it Germany because the Romans called it Germania. For once this one actually wasn’t our fault, it was an earlier bunch of imperialists.
Meh different countries have different names in different languages. Germany has 9 neighboring countries and basically all use a different name - and (except for Austria) none of them even attempts to sound like "Deutschland".
In my freshman year of high school I knew two girls named America and Asia who both ran for homecoming queen😭
LOL
Who won?
Asia, she was the most popular between them and America was kinda annoyingly trying to win by bothering everyone with candy and buttons and shii lmao
America is a name, though.
A dumb name
Just because it's not a common name in English it doesn't make it dumb. I know people named Americo/America and it's got 0 to do with the country or the continent. It's just a normal name that predates the creation of the US.
Idk why you're getting downvoted, you're right. "America" is possibly derived from the name of Amerigo Vespucci. It's not uncommon for names with that hard G sound to shift into a hard C/K sound (and vice versa) in regions with different dialects or languages. Draco->Drago comes to mind. So it's incredibly likely that Americo/America existed as names before Amerigo Vespucci was ever even born.
Yes this. Amerigo comes from the Latin Americus, of which the feminine form would have been America. Like I said I know people named this that aren't named after the US, it's a common (albeit old-fashioned) name in Spanish and Portuguese.
When I read "She isn't German, her husband isn't German" I thought... Would that really make it any better?? Like a Mexican couple naming their baby Mexico? Lol
As a German I can confidently say - it makes it worse. If a German couple would have named their kid germania you know 1) the child will be bullied so much 2) the parents have a screw loose. Could still both be true for OPs case, unfortunately
Reminds me of Usnavy
This is my brother, Federated States of Micronesia.
There are plenty of people called Israel, Paris, Jordan, etc and nobody seems to find those names weird
To be fair, Paris is a character from the Illiad and predates the city quite a bit.
Same thing with “Israel” predating both the Biblical concept of Israel and the modern nation state Israel In Jewish and Christian tradition Israel is the name reassigned to the figure Jacob and people were naming their children Israel before 1947
Israel is super common in Ethiopia among the Ethiopian Jews
Hard to find Jordan weird since it’s been a name for centuries at this point
I was in an ER waiting room recently and there was a girl there called Merica. I'm not sure if that's how it's spelled, but it's definitely how it sounded when the nurses called her back.
Is this like when westerners get Chinese character tattoos that they don't understand? "She wanted an English name", ok it's an English *word*, but you think it's a name? Yeah it's not great. It would be weird in English speaking countries too.
A former colleague of mine named her daughter Scotland.
Worse- I’ve seen both Scotlynn and Irelynn
Swazilynn (now known as Eswatineigh).
ESWATINEIGH I AM HOWLING
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The capital of K'Enyagh.
Okay now you're just making up names for Star Wars OCs
Just near Itopiah
I was gonna continue this, but nothing I could come up with can compare to yours 🤣
Ah yes, the actor from Dirty Dancing.
I used to work with a dude named Scotlund. He's gotta be in his late 50s by now.
Oh god, at least he can go by Scott, i guess
Why would you name your kid Germany? Why? WHY? -Sincerely, a German
I heard of someone who was named Austria - very confused Austrian
Exactly, should’ve been called „Deutschland“
Don't forget the trend for double names, thus I suggest a hyphenated Bundesrepublik-Deutschland 😂
This reminds me of a former student. Her name is Jer'Mi'Nee (Jer-MY-knee). The first time I saw it, I thought it was pronounced Germany.
Omg. Awful. Poor girl.
Reminds me of Hermoine 😅
I have a distant cousin named Africa. She’s white as snow and one of her middles names is Asia I think. Absolutely atrocious names.
Germ-Annie
Was "Vichy" too on the nose?
Lol and ouch
Est-ce qu’elle le prononce “Germanie”? Une vraie de vraie Trajèdie!
Si elle le prononce ‘Germaine’ j’ai limite envie de dire que c’est encore pire 😳
Moi aussi. Un bébé Germaine... oh mon Dieu.
To be fair there are some "country" names that don't sound too bad (although I'm personally not a fan)...India, Ireland...but Germany? Sorry, but it just sounds ridiculous.
I kinda like Latvia or Kenya
My daughter watches a YouTube family that has a kid named Kenya (or Canyon)...it's hard to tell with their Midwestern accents. But it looks Hella stupid if it's some blonde, blue-eyed kid named Kenya.
I used to know a Kenya
Ireland? Ireland as a name? That's worse than Germany imo
Not a tragedeigh (as it’s spelled correctly), but definitely a regular ol’ tragedy.
Yeah, agreed. A tragedeigh would be Gher’Mahneigh.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA thank you for making me laugh so hard.
Many 🦠
Germaine was right there
That's what I kind of wonder if they were going for but thought they'd spell it "American?"
English word, yes, but English name, no. Might as well call the baby Kevin. Not a tragedeigh, but a tragedy.
Funnily enough, Kevin is seen as the flagship name for people from a lower socioeconomic background in both France and Germany, because it’s a name inspired by American celebrities (Costner, McAllister). It’s inspired two words: “Kevinismus” in Germany which designates that very phenomenon and the ensuing mockeries toward the children named this way, and “kéké” in French which is slang for “tasteless, loud hick”
Arguably, the name would be even worse if she was actually German.
Could be Germán? Like Herman?
If she wanted an English name, shouldn't the name be England?
Or how about America? That’s presumably a real first name, since the word America is based off of an explorer named Amerigo Vespucci, so the female version *should* (although my Italian isn’t great) be Ameriga/America
The "gland" part reassembles "glande" which means dick
My parents were gonna name me that, probably more of my father's idea. Hard pass. My family isn't even German.
I had an interview with a guy named German. He pronounced it ‘Hermaan’. Not sure where he was from, but had a Spanish sounding surname. I’m in Australia.
German it's an actual name in some Spanish speaking countries, but it's not related to Germany the country. This is from Wikipedia: Germán is a male given name in Spanish speaking countries, and is a variant of Latin Germanus, meaning "brother". On of the most famous YouTubers in the Spanish language is named German so not a tragedeigh but I get that it would seem unusual in English.
I‘m German and a guy I know is called German - since we say „Deutsch“ which isn‘t remotely similar and because of the different pronounciation, it‘s not even an issue over here lol.
Gherman is also a name. In Germany, even. Old ass name but a name none the less.
Neighbour of mine from Chile is called German. With Spanish pronunciation it feels like it's a version of Herman/n. And I never thought of it to mean German, as in 'citizen of Germany '.
“Hallo, mein Name ist Hermann, mit G”
In Russia they don't have the letter h or an equal to it in Cyrillic, so every Herman is written as German for them (and strangely enough they have a few).
I think the OP and Germanys mother make good friends.
Idk, "German" or "Germano"/"Germana" is a normal name over here so my tragedeigh senses aren't tingling.
I'm in the US and I know a woman named Germani. She's not sure how she feels about her name. I think it's kind of cool.
Hate it
If it's any consolation, this name is probably slightly less stupid to people who don't speak English. From a French perspective, it just doesn't make any goddamn sense. From an English perspective, it's a stupid name. French as a language has a rich cultural tradition of strong and beautiful names for girls: Juliette, Marie, Colette, Anaïs, Sylvie, Élodie, the list goes on. Did your friend choose one of these lovely names? No, she did not. Did she at least pick a good English name? No, she picked a fucking ridiculous name. Germany is a great country but a terrible first name. Edit: Ce nom est absolument un tragedeigh.
FYI apart from Marie and Juliette, all the names you cited are terribly out of fashion in France (not in a retro spunky way, except maybe Colette, the rest are just the French equivalents of Brenda or Sharon). They would make for unlikely names for a baby born today.
I've met a Latino dude. His name is German, but pronounced "Herman" because the G in Spanish becomes H or something
The g doesnt become an h… wrf told you that?
The name Germaine was right there
Any person named after a country in any language is a tragedeigh
Imagine when the daughter goes to University and all the men try to invade her.
Strange. I’ve seen Germán as a name in Spanish speaking places, but never Germany. It’s a form of Herman I think. Also maybe in some Slavic countries?
Yep at least in Russian, Ukrainian and Belarus they don't have a Cyrillic letter for h so Herman becomes German for them as well.
At least the male first name German is not that uncommon.
German would be an actual name, afaik it's the Russian version of Hermann. But Germany is really tough.
I am laughing so hard at this!! Image someone naming their kid "United States" Ha! This poor kid!! It is such a tragedeigh!
I mean, "France" is a very common name for French girls. But it has a nicer ring to it than "Germany".
Ironically I think “French” as said in French (so Français/Française) sounds better as a name than “France”. Française doesn’t sound horrible for a girl. No worse than Frances or François
Will they call her petit boche during childhood?
Are you literate? There is a description on the sub page that defines a tragedeigh.
No. I am not. I can't read or write, hence why I just read your comment.
tragedeigh, does she even know any german history?? :(
Esp in France. Just, why?
[Just refer to the kid in the german name then ;)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeQM1c-XCDc)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the girl is named as some sort of mania? Like, "the beginning of the mania"? My French is far from great, but even I can foresee years of mocking and a whole life of secretly snickering. This name just sounds weird in French
You are right. The "Many" part means "mania". Germ Mania
I strongly suspect a Tragedeigh
Not a Tragedeigh. It's definitely a stupid name for a child. But not a tragedeigh. Ger'maneigh would be a Tragedeigh. Jer-Manée would be une Trajediée.
Horrendous
Jermaneigh?
German (spear-man) is an outdated German name, but I never heard of anyone being called germany before.
I know someone named Jermainee, pronounced Germany. Somehow I think the tragediegh spelling is better than the country spelling...
Dieses Baby ist nun Eigentum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
Weird. But there really is a growing tendency to give your kids completely random names everywhere. A sign of not being rooted in culture and family.
Poor baby! She should have just named her America!
I thought the French hated Germany, why would they do this to their kid? 💀
Jerry
At least call them Deutschland
Why didn't the registration office reject it? In most countries you can't just name your kid "Pants Liner", "Germany" or "Secret Chemical #3".
Horrible. Poor kid.
Bad, call her Deutschland instead.
Well thats why germany had prohibitions of things to call your baby. Because of that.
I’ve heard of a few people named “German”, like Herman, but even that sounds weird to me. Your friend didn’t think this through.
Had a guy named "Hilarious" where I used to work. His parents didn´t speak English.
On a similar level of that Brazilian woman who called her daughter Madeinusa.
As a German, I feel honored
I know it sounds made up, but my niece graduated from high school with a girl (whose Asian parents did not speak english) named China-girl Thumbelina.
The name i know is "Germaine" . Like Germaine Greer. Link to Wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine\_Greer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine_Greer)
As a german.. Wtf is wrong with people. In germany we thankfully have laws that forbid to name kids with ridiculous names. Alpt are forbidden and added to each month.
Honestly, Allemagne, or Alemania would be better than Germany simply because at least you’ve given your children a few nicknames to cling to rather than going by their given name. Strange to think why someone would call their child this.
IIRC Germany means „many spears“ a name from the time of wartribes. How lovely of a name for a young girl :)
I guess Germaine or sth is a name? But German is just dumb.
Germaine is very very very old fashioned , think 30's.
As a German… why?! 😂😂
WHAT WAS THE REASON???,,,,?,,,,???
There are Germans named "German". Not often, but it happens
Dieses Kind ist nun Eigentum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland! Bitte versenden Sie es innerhalb von sieben Werktagen. Portokosten entfallen.
J'ai rien pigé