Questions tagged [person-names]

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Gottemeitschi is from which German language?

Gottemeitschi means godmother, but in which German dialect and region? What is the masculine form, plus granduncle, grand aunt, etc? And how do they compare to their high German, or formal, ...
user610620's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
216 views

Why is a definite article required here?

In conversation with 2 native German speakers, I wanted to translate the following: At least that’s what old lady Calvin told me just before we left. I said: Zumindest ist es das, was mir alte Frau ...
user44591's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
759 views

Does the name Alex in German has its dimunitive variant?

It's a pretty common name but I don't think it fits with -chen or -lein
Wangcincay's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
206 views

How to pronounce the "Fränkel" in German?

How to read "Fränkel" in German? Any native German know it? Now I need to know the exact pronunciation of "Fränkel" to translate it into Chinese from the sound. If you know, please ...
M. Logic's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
129 views

How to read "Leopold Löwenheim" in German?

How to read "Leopold Löwenheim" in German? Any native German know it? Now I need to know the exact pronunciation of "Leopold Löwenheim" (of which I only know the overall ...
M. Logic's user avatar
  • 165
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

How should I read "Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind" in German?

How should I read "Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind" in German? Please use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for German to show how to read it.
M. Logic's user avatar
  • 165
5 votes
2 answers
255 views

Are "Tannhäuser" and "Tannenzäpfle" related?

Asking about a great opera (Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser) and a great beer (Rothaus Brewery's Tannenzäpfle). Tannhäuser takes place, in large part, in a forest, but the name is taken from the ...
lemonlemon's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is the name Alfred derived from Abraham?

In Walter Isaacson's biography of Henry Kissinger, he writes that his German middle name, Alfred, is "a Germanic updating of Abraham." I haven't been able to find any other evidence of this.
lemonlemon's user avatar
13 votes
4 answers
4k views

How to pronounce "Gröbner"?

I'm a math PhD student and a very important concept for my work is that of a Gröbner basis, named after Austrian mathematician Wolfgang Gröbner. My colleagues all disagree on the correct pronunciation ...
morrowmh's user avatar
  • 233
2 votes
2 answers
221 views

First names indistinguishable from family names

In French there are exist many family names that are indistinguishable from last names, such as, e.g., Édouard Philippe vs. Philippe Édouard. The phenomenon is so widespread that occasionally serves ...
Roger Vadim's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
343 views

Can any name be put into the diminutive with -chen or -lein?

There are some names I see being put into the diminutive more than others (i.e. Hansel, Fritzchen, Liesel, Gretchen). Could any name be put into the diminutive this way? For example, I was actually on ...
Cat Defender's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
416 views

"Kugel des Glücks". What is it?

Bei der Lektüre von Klabunds Geschichte "Der sterbende Soldat" habe ich zwei Sätze entdeckt, die ich nicht verstanden habe: (1) Tag und Nacht sind nicht mehr. Sind versunken wie Segelschiffe ...
Dmitry Acemonte's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
246 views

Pronunciation of name "Matei" by native German speakers

We are considering naming our son "Matei", however as we live in a German-speaking country, we worry that native speakers of German would pronounce it /ma'tai/, different from the name's ...
z8080's user avatar
  • 198
5 votes
1 answer
214 views

Where does the "z" in "Heinz", "Fritz" and "Lutz" originate?

The German first names Heinrich and Friedrich have short forms Heinz and Fritz. The forms are similar - they both seem to replace the -rich ending with a z. This seems to give raise to a small pattern....
Jonathan Scholbach's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
268 views

Was bedeutet „Feuchtwangen“ auf Englisch?

A professional acquaintance has the last name Feuchtwanger, which prompted learning of the German city Feuchtwangen — from which an ancestor presumably kam aus. The literal meaning seems to be “wet ...
Greg Bacon's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
363 views

What are the family names on Swiss houses called?

In rural areas of Switzerland, owners of houses put their surname on the front of the house. What is this wooden name-sign called in English and German, and what is this custom and the act of doing it ...
user610620's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
186 views

Modern short-form German names for boys and girls [closed]

Gion is a short-form name for Johannes, a boy's name. What are other examples for German, Austrian or Swiss boys and girls?
user610620's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
245 views

Wie spricht man den Namen Pahl aus?

How would German native speakers typically pronounce the family name Pahl? I know a family, who live in an English speaking country, that pronounce it with an English “aw” vowel sound - same as “Paul”....
Bohemian's user avatar
  • 113
2 votes
3 answers
3k views

Wohin schreibt man den Namenszusatz in Formularen / Urkunden bei "Nachname, Vorname"

Zunächst einmal zur Einordnung: Unter Namenszusätzen verstehe ich hier Wörter, wie "de, De, Mc, von, van" etc., die nicht mit dem Familiennamen verschmolzen sind. Also Namen wie: Vincent ...
mtwde's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
3k views

Deutsche Entsprechung zu Karen?

Der weibliche Vorname Karen wird im Englischen seit wenigen Jahren exemplarisch für den Stereotyp der beschwerdefreudigen, hellhäutigen Vorstadtmittelklassehausfrau aus der „Boomer“-Generation mit ...
Crissov's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
603 views

What is the correct order and positioning of academic and professional titles in Austria?

People are a bit more concerned with academic, professional, and other titles in Austria than in other German-speaking regions; it's not unusual to refer to people with all their titles instead of ...
Psychonaut's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
905 views

What does/might the name Schroedinger mean?

A quick Google yielded no fruit; perhaps a language aficionado or expert could shed some more light.
DJG's user avatar
  • 121
6 votes
1 answer
7k views

Warum gibt es keine traditionell deutschen* Vornamen, die mit "Sch" beginnen?

Mir ist spontan kein Vorname, der mit sch beginnt und nicht vom Englischen eingedeutscht wurde, eingefallen. Ich habe also gesucht und nur relativ exotische Namen, wie folgt, gefunden: Schwanhilde ...
jmizv's user avatar
  • 368
1 vote
2 answers
196 views

Articles with names in "Heidi", Spyri's regional accent (Followup to previous questions linked in body)

In chapter 1 of "Heidi", Dete and her old acquaintance Barbel are leading Heidi up the mountain to meet her grandfather. The author, Johanna Spyri, starts talking about die Dete and die ...
RDBury's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
4k views

Trying to decipher a German name

I believe the first two words are "Erinnerung an", but can't decipher the name. Please help.
Joachim's user avatar
  • 139
2 votes
1 answer
112 views

Prefix for last name: "in der"

While watching TV, I noticed that a person interviewed was named In der Maur. Rarely you can read von as prefix, mostly by former nobles, but it's the first time I have read in der as a prefix. I ...
kaiser's user avatar
  • 213
6 votes
2 answers
404 views

When should you use more than one letter in initials of a name (“Th.” for “Theodor”, “Ph.” for “Philipp”, etc)?

(This is a followup to the answers of Is ‘Th.’ in a name a short form of Theodor?, hoping to learn more details than are given there.) It’s quite common in German for first-name initials to be given ...
PLL's user avatar
  • 235
9 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is 'Th.' in a name the short form of Theodor?

I have come across some occurrences of 'Dr. Th.' followed by a name. I first thought it means Doctor theologiae, but I am seeing it in contexts that have nothing to do with theology. Example: ...
PBH's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
424 views

How to pronounce Arthur Wehnelt's last name as in the term Wehnelt cylinder or Wehnelt lens?

A Wehnelt lens, grid, cap, etc. is a standard component in an electron gun on may types of scientific instruments including electron microscopes. It is named after its inventor Arthur Rudolph Berthold ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 243
5 votes
2 answers
165 views

Regeln für adjektivische Verwendung von Vornamen

Mit beispielsweise dem viktorianischen und dem wilhelminischen Zeitalter (nach Königin Viktoria bzw. Wilhelm II.) und dem julianischen und gregorianischen Kalender (nach Julius Cäsar bzw. Gregor XIII.)...
dulange's user avatar
  • 401
0 votes
5 answers
230 views

Is any group of people known by an animal name, specifically as 'bat'?

I'm wondering whether any specific people group (e.g. a certain nationality or a certain organization of people) can be referred to or is known by an animal name. For example I know of people being ...
G. Sansone's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
167 views

Wilhelm II. und Ludwig XIV

Ich habe gerade in Volker Kutschers »Der nasse Fisch«, oder vielleicht sollte ich in Volker Kutschers »Nassem Fisch« schreiben, den folgenden Satz gelesen : Der Mann erinnerte ein wenig an Wilhelm ...
grandtout's user avatar
  • 658
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Should umlauts be used in names, even if the person with that name didn't use them? [duplicate]

I've recently come across a post (in English) speaking of Noether's theorem, where Noether's surname was consistently spelled as Nöther. But nowhere had I seen such a spelling of this name until this ...
Ruslan's user avatar
  • 195
1 vote
2 answers
157 views

Where can I find a list of all family names containing Schild/Schilt?

I've been searching for a while but can't find any list of all family names (but current and historic) containing the element Schild/Schilt, either as a prefix or a suffix. It's not even mentioned as ...
Johan88's user avatar
  • 123
12 votes
3 answers
5k views

When referring to a person only by their surname, should I keep or omit "von"?

When referring to people, often they are named by their surname only (no titles, first names or initials if the surname alone would unambiguously denote the person in a context. E.g. Haydn, Merkel. ...
frIT's user avatar
  • 401
2 votes
1 answer
268 views

Sigmund vs. Sigismund

I am aware that this is not a question strictly related to the German Language, but I think it is still related. I currently read a book where the name Sigmund appears a lot. However, my brain ...
virolino's user avatar
  • 129
3 votes
2 answers
845 views

Genitiv von Namen mit Adelsprädikat

Bildunterschrift in der Sächsischen Zeitung vom 28.01.19, Seite 3: Das Wappen derer von Zimmermann, den Besitzern bis 1945 Gibt es Verweise in Grammatiken/Regelwerken auf diese Art der ...
Stef's user avatar
  • 1,000
4 votes
2 answers
229 views

Welchem ​Zweck dient »der« in »Ja, ich bin der Martin«?

Ja, ich bin der Martin. Welchem Zweck dient der hier? Ich denke, dass es mit Welchen grammatischen Zweck dient hier "der": «als der er abgefahren war» verbunden ist, aber ein ...
user5389726598465's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
11k views

Pronunciation of "Dirichlet"

I am interested in the pronunciation of the name "Dirichlet" as in the mathematician Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet. Specifically, I am interested in whether the final "t" is silent. I have ...
Timothy Chow's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Korrekte Bezeichnung von Professoren im Text

Ich kenne die Regeln für Professoren für die Anschrift und für die Anrede. Wie verweise ich jedoch korrekterweise im Text auf die Person? Beispielsweise in einem Brief: Das wird Ihnen auch [Person] ...
00schneider's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
373 views

We are (called) the Smiths

How does one pluralize a family name? Wir heißen den Smiths? der Smithen? Wir sind die Smith Familie? Which of these is most natural, and which are acceptable?
perpetual's user avatar
  • 459
3 votes
1 answer
161 views

Cornelsen - Why pronounced with long "e"

I know the syllable structure is cor-nel-sen So it should be pronounced with a short "e", isn't it? Or maybe because it is a last name the rules don't apply here?
MrsRona's user avatar
  • 301
9 votes
2 answers
644 views

What is the 'mit A-Y' in 'ist dort die Firma Mayer mit A-Y'?

I see this conversation in Studio 21: A: »Heier« B: »Guten Morgen, ist dort die Firma Mayer mit A-Y?« A: »Nein, hier ist Heier. HEIER.« B: »Oh, Entschuldigung ...« What is the ‘mit A-Y’?
Lerner Zhang's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
142 views

Johannes Nazaräer? (Articles)

The Nazarener were a 19th century German religious art movement. Preferring Nazaräer to Nazarener (because Nazarener is commonly thought to derive etymologically from the geographical Nazaret), how ...
Johan88's user avatar
  • 123
11 votes
1 answer
250 views

"Von neumannsche Ordinalzahlen" oder "von Neumann'sche Ordinalzahlen"?

Sofern ich weiß sind sowohl grimmsche Märchen und Grimm'sche Märchen korrekt. Was passiert wenn das Adjektiv von einem mehrteiligen Namen kommt, zum Beispiel von Neumann. Welche Formen sind korrekt ...
Martin's user avatar
  • 367
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

How does one come up with good German names for a submissive girl? [closed]

I am a sub to a Dom and would like to change my name to celebrate this. What are ways to choose a good German name for this?
Cinders's user avatar
  • 11
5 votes
3 answers
2k views

How to pronounce Zoe(y), Lucy, Amy and Stella as German names?

I noticed that there are German friends who have such English-like names. I pronounce these names in English as: Zoe(y): ZO-ee, /zoːi/ Lucy: LOO-see, /luːsi/ Amy: AY-mee, /eimi/ Stella: STEL-ə, /...
Cendrillon's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
133 views

Die historische Verwendung von Femininsuffixe auf Namen

Der Text auf diesem Gemälde wundert mich. Die Ehefrau Barbara vom Uhrmacher Sebastian Baumann in Friedberg Warum steht hier Barbara Baumannin und nicht Baumann ? Ist das -in ein Femininsuffix oder ...
Beta's user avatar
  • 4,757
0 votes
1 answer
264 views

Need help about usage of "von"

I got confused about the usage of the word. "Von" can be written "Von" if it started in front of the sentence or "v." if abbreviated accroding to The Duden. What about if you write it in sentences, "...
user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
728 views

Personennamen: Genitiv-Spezialfall?

In einem Buch ist mir der Genitiv untergekommen: ... und spielte zwei oder drei Lieder Walther von der Vogelweides. Mir ist schon klar, dass der Satz mit einem andere Namen, etwa Franz Schuberts, ...
guidot's user avatar
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