According to the Association for German Language (GfdS), the most popular baby names in Germany in 2010 were Sophie/Sofie and Maximilian:
Girl Names
- Sophie/Sofie
- Marie
- Maria
- Sophia/Sofia
- Mia
- Anna
- Lena
- Emma
- Hannah/Hanna
- Johanna
Boy Names
- Maximilian
- Alexander
- Paul
- Leon
- Lukas/Lucas
- Luca/Luka
- Elias
- Louis/Luis
- Jonas
- Felix
(These rankings don’t account for all German births last year, but they do account for over 50% of them.)
The GfdS also offered examples of the unusual baby names parents wanted to bestow in 2010. Some were accepted by the government, others were rejected.
| Accepted: | Rejected: |
| Belana Kantorka Kix Laperla Lelibeth Loana Lovelle Miransah Monel Napoleon Noredien Nox Quidan Segesta | Cheraldine Gihanna Idjen (rather than Etienne) Junge (“boy”) Laslo (for a girl) Leuis Menez Partizan Pfefferminza (pfefferminze is “peppermint”) Puppe (“doll”) |
Finally, my source claims German law “stat[es] that middle names, like nicknames, can be modified at will.” I wasn’t aware of this. Can anyone out there confirm/deny?
Source: ‘Maximilian’ and ‘Sophie’ most popular baby names of 2010
Image: Adapted from Flag of Germany (public domain)
Sophia and Sofia–they’re not counted the same? Wow. That’s a lot of little Sophs running around.
I’ve always found German paternalism about names to be strange and silly. Laslo and Gihanna rejected? Weak. We get Tennessees and Duramaxes and DeChones and Coco Crisps in this country– and they can’t handle “Doll”? Ha.
@Charly – Coco Crisp’s “Coco” is just a nickname — the real first name is Covelli.
I can why the name Lena would be one of the top German names on the list.*cough cough* Eurovision: Lena Meyer-Landrut.