Questions tagged [person-names]
The person-names tag has no usage guidance.
101 questions
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Why do some German surnames end with -ius?
I ask because the -ius suffix is mainly found in Latin and Lithuanian names. Examples of such German names would be: Gropius, Frobenius, Moebius. Did these people latinize their original surnames? If ...
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Gab es jemals vokative Nomen- oder wenigstesn Namensformen im Deutschen?
Ich habe vor einiger Zeit in Goethe's Faust eine vokative oder wenigestens vokativ klingende Namensform gefunden:
Nun, Fauste, träume fort, bis wir uns wiedersehn.
Ist das einfach künstlerische ...
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Typische deutsche Vornamen nach Generation
Es gibt in der (Populär-)Soziologie verschiedene Ansätze, die Bevölkerung nach Geburtsjahr in Kohorten, sogenannte Generationen einzuteilen. Die Größe beträgt meist etwa 15 bis 20 Jahrgänge. Für die ...
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Indicate vowel hiatus in non-German family name
I have a non-German family name structurally similar to Meyer. People often mispronounce the ey as ay1. Can I use a vowel hiatus to indicate the desired pronunciation with e and y? Is Mёyer correct? I ...
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What is "Fischers" in Fischers Fritz?
I learned the following Zungenbrecher.
Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische. Frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz
I understand this means "A man named Fritz fishes fresh fish", repeated in ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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 ...
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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.
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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 ...
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What does Droßelmeier name mean in Hoffmann's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King?
I'm curious: What does godfather (or uncle) Droßelmeier surname mean in Nussknacker und Mausekönig?
I found some translations of Droßel: 'Song thrush' (bird). It is also 'electromagnetic choke' (why?),...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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"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 ...
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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 ...
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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....
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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?
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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”....
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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What does/might the name Schroedinger mean?
A quick Google yielded no fruit; perhaps a language aficionado or expert could shed some more light.
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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
...
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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 ...
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Trying to decipher a German name
I believe the first two words are "Erinnerung an", but can't decipher the name.
Please help.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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:
...
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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 ...
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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.)...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Wie schreibt man polnische Namen? (Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz)
Wie schreibt man im Deutschen polnische Namen wie z.B. Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz?
Gschegosch Bschenschytschykewitsch?
Ich bin unsicher besonders bei der Wiedergabe von rz -> sch.
Kontext: ...
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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 ...
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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.
...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
- 1,883
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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 ...
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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] ...
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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?
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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?
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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’?
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