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A German-speaking friend of mine referred to another person, Madeline, by the nickname "Maddie." Except that she used the term "cozy name."

Google translate gives me "Spitzname," or more likely "sobriquet," for nickname. Are these good translations? I also get "gemütlich" for cozy, but I don't think there is anything like "gemütlichname."

Is there a better German usage for "nickname," or as my friend put it, "cozy name?"

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The others are right:

What you're looking for is Spitzname.

It's worth differentiating the other suggestions, though:

  • Kosename -- This is a "term of endearment" (and you're right: this is very likely the original of the botched "cozy name". The "Kose-" part is related to "liebkosen" and evokes the mental image of being (physically) affectionate to this person.)
  • Neckname, Scherzname, Spottname -- These are terms for negative or teasing nicknames, to a larger or lesser degree. However, since this is also covered by "Spitzname", and the're very uncommon, I wouldn't recommend using them (even though Duden lists them).
  • Sobriquet -- This is not a German word - don't trust Google translate :)
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The term Sobriquet will not be understood by most native German speakers.

There's a simple rule that you can follow to figure out which word you can use in German:

Use Kosename for family or partner, i.e. people that are very close to you:

Ich gebe meiner Frau Kosenamen.

Use Nickname when talking about one's online name:

Wie ist dein Nickname?

And Spitzname in any other situation.

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  • Very true concerning the usage of Nickname in German - one might say that the meaning of Nickname in German is closer to that of Benutzername (user name) than to that of Spitzname.
    – O. R. Mapper
    Commented Dec 13, 2016 at 11:17
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Dict.cc lists these as possible translations:

  • Spitzname
  • Kosename
  • Neckname
  • Scherzname
  • Spottname

The German Wikipedia has Spitzname as the equivalent of nickname.

In my opinion, Spitzname is the best translation for nickname.

Kosename is mostly used for a person for which the speaker feels affection.

BTW: I have never heard cozy name before.

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    "Kosename is mostly used for a person for which the speaker feels affection." That's what I needed to know. But it does sound like "cozy name." I think that this was her (mis)"translation" of Kosename.
    – Tom Au
    Commented Sep 23, 2013 at 14:45
  • I think that nickname is used in a slightly more general sense then Spitzname, and that a Spitzname is often taunting or at least humorous. I think (but am not sure of it, because that would require better knowledge of English than I have) that this does not have to be the case for a nickname. Also, it is very much possible that the usage of Spitzname is changing.
    – Carsten S
    Commented Sep 23, 2013 at 15:55
  • @TomAu, thanks to Wikipedia you can tell her that she meant a term of endearment ;)
    – Carsten S
    Commented Sep 23, 2013 at 15:56
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    @CarstenSchultz "Spitzname" need not be humorous. My own nick at stackexchange is a "Spitzname" I got during high school. It's not humorous at all.
    – Toscho
    Commented Sep 23, 2013 at 17:01
  • Then maybe @Toscho is not a Spitzname ;) As I said, the meaning may be shifting, but the original meaning is narrower, see the entries in all three dictionaries at woerterbuchnetz.de or even the 1986 edition of Wahrig.
    – Carsten S
    Commented Sep 23, 2013 at 18:38
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I am from Germany:

  • Spitzname

That's exactly what you are looking for. Maddie is a Spitzname for Madeline. You only call the person by their Spitzname when you are a good friend of the person. A Spitzname can be without any relation to the name. For example Madelines Spitzname can as well be whateveryouwant.

Opa for example is a Kosename for Großvater. Like papa for father.

  • Neckname
  • Scherzname
  • Spottname

I never used any of these and I never heard someone using them.

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May I offer Rufname as another alternative to Spitzname. I've heard it used in the context and it makes sense given the duality defined by Duden

  1. Vorname einer Person, mit dem sie angeredet wird (im Unterschied zu weiteren Vornamen)
  2. (besonders Funkwesen) Kennung

However, Spitzname would certainly be the one used in most cases for the context you gave.

Rufname literally translates to "calling name" (or "name someone is called by") and I have heard it used to refer to the nickname rather than simply any forename. In fact I have heard it in both cases. However, there are a lot of regionalisms in German, so this may be a local thing. Just wanted to give it for completeness.

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    Rufname is definitely not an alternative to Spitzname! If you have more than one given name (e.g Magaretha Maria Schmidt), the "Rufname" is the one that is used to call you in everyday life. It can be any of the given names and it is not automatically the first name in the order of the given names. In formulas the Rufname is often underlined.
    – Iris
    Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 8:55
  • @Iris: hab ich selbst geschrieben. Ich bleib dabei, denn ich habe es exakt so schon von anderen benutzt gehört. Ob das nun anderen gefällt oder nicht, ist für mich nachrangig. Auch als Muttersprachler lerne ich hin und wieder neue Fakten zu meiner Muttersprache und halte mich nicht für die letzte Instanz in Sprachfragen.
    – 0xC0000022L
    Commented Dec 13, 2016 at 10:47

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