Message: "German obituaries (inspired by Sofia)"

[Opinions] German obituaries (inspired by Sofia)

by JHK

12/19/2009, 7:26 AM

All of them Lutheran:

Sabine (58)
Elfriede (79)
Johanna (72)
Maria (82)
Christel (73)

Kurt (85)
Hans Günter (66)
Hans (78)
Peter (73)
Ludwig (99)
Wolfgang (66)

#German #obituaries

This message was edited 12/19/2009, 7:34 AM

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- Pie

12/20/2009, 6:49 AM

My German family were Lutherans too (gt-grandma was from Bavaria). I like all the names, especially Elfriede, Johanna and Ludwig, and I'd use Elfrida and Johanna.

- Sofia +1

12/19/2009, 3:15 PM

Grins:-]

I love:

Sabine
Elfriede -I love Elfrida and was wondering how popular they are now?
Johanna
Maria

Wolfgang

- JHK

12/21/2009, 5:19 AM

Elfriede and variants are considered dated in Germany. They're not at all popular at the moment.

- plingy

12/19/2009, 1:23 PM

I like Johanna, Maria, Sabine and Ludwig. It's really interesting to see what you people on here think about traditional German names. When I look at the birth announcements in our local newspaper, there's always a lot of babies called Finn. Maybe that will change now.

- Wordsmith

12/19/2009, 9:33 AM

I delight in Elfriede, Johanna, and Maria.

- Murasaki (lady murasaki)

12/19/2009, 8:11 AM

I like Sabine, Maria, Peter and Ludwig.

- Anthroponomastics +6

12/19/2009, 7:39 AM

Such beautiful names...

Germans used to be so good with their naming.
Personally, I like all of these, especially...
Elfriede
Johanna
Maria - I highly doubt this is as popular as it once was.
Kurt - my dad's name...he was named after a German relative
Hans
Peter
Ludwig - I wish there were more Ludwigs
Wolfgang - another family name.

Thanks for starting with the German obits...gives you a clearer message as to how Germans were and how they are now in naming.

This message was edited 12/19/2009, 7:40 AM

- JHK +5

12/19/2009, 7:47 AM

Maria is not as popular as is used to be but still a common baby name.
Related names like Marie & Maja are more popular though.

- Anthroponomastics +4

12/19/2009, 7:53 AM

But they aren't as beautiful or classic in Germany.

Marie is originally French...why not use the German form Maria. I mean the pronunciation is close but in German, Marie doesn't sound as wholesome as Maria...Maria has the rounded sound.
Maja wasn't common until recently, was it?
Why can't the German be German?

- JHK +3

12/19/2009, 8:23 AM

Well, it depends on what you mean when you say recently.

Maja: commonly used in Germany since 1944, first popular between 1972 and 1977, then again in 2003.

Marie: commonly used in Germany for over a century, has always been popular since the 1890s with the exception of the years 1950 to 1960.

I agree with you that we should use German names but as I perceive it, we do. Many "modern" German names are not seen as such by foreigners because very often they'd like to see stereotypical German names like Hans, Grete, Friedrich and Hildegard.

However, popular names like Johanna, Moritz, Florian & Katharina are German classics, too.

Concerning the last question: "Why can't the German be German?"
Only in the last years, German parents have had the "courage" to use certain old German names again. Some of them had been frowned upon for decades after WWII. Being too German was everything but trendy.

This message was edited 12/19/2009, 8:29 AM

- Anthroponomastics +2

12/19/2009, 8:42 AM

But Germans are so cool now!

- plingy

12/19/2009, 1:18 PM

Wow. I didn't know that. Thanks though :)

- JHK

12/19/2009, 8:59 AM

Thank you for the compliment ;)

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