Most Popular Names in Germany 2023 (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular name in Germany 2023? ›

Noah has been the most popular boy's name in Germany for five years in a row now. Sophia (or Sofia) narrowly dethroned Emilia atop the girls' list.

All hail Liam, all hail Olivia. Again. Liam and Olivia were the top baby names in 2023, according to the Social Security Administration, which released its annual list of the most popular names for newborns Friday. Both names have been at the top for years.

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.)

Deiderich. A German male name that means "powerful" or "the people's ruler."

Nowadays, style guides and dictionaries recommend that all women be addressed as Frau regardless of marital status, particularly in formal situations.

In Germany, there are about 850,000 different family names. The most common German surname, Müller (miller), is shared by around 700,000 people. This is followed in popularity by the name Schmidt (along with variants such as Schmitt or Schmitz, this comes from the blacksmith's trade), with Meier coming in third place.

If you're searching for baby name inspiration, look no further: The Social Security Administration has released its latest list of most popular baby names, including the 1,000 most popular baby girl names. According to the SSA, favorites like Olivia, Emma and Charlotte reigned supreme in 2023.

What is an old German male name? ›

Unique German boy names to watch include Amory, Ansel, Benno, Boden, Hugo, Leopold, Luther, Otis, Otto, Roland, Walden, Wilbur, and Wolf.

According to the Social Security Administration, many of the top 100 girl names in 2021 come from German origins: Emma, Sophia, Mia, Alice and Emily, to name a few. One example of a prominent German-American female figure with a German girl name is Heidi Klum.

Other Germanic countries call Germany by some variant of the German name, from Deutschland, to Duitsland, to Tyskland. Germany has many names simply because it's been the most important nation and/or ethnic group of Central and Western Europe, to say the least, for more than 1,000 years.

The official name of the country is Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland). The terms Westdeutschland and Ostdeutschland are still used for the western and the eastern parts of the German territory, respectively.

Müller, Schmidt and Meier: the most common German surnames

The most common German surname, Müller (miller), is shared by around 700,000 people. This is followed in popularity by the name Schmidt (along with variants such as Schmitt or Schmitz, this comes from the blacksmith's trade), with Meier coming in third place.