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HelpEnglish opinion on German names
Since most people here seem to be from the US/UK, I’d like to ask about you opinion on certain names.
When asked about these names on german sites, people usually comment on a negativ english meaning. I'd just like to know, whether a person with this name would have a problem in an english-speaking country or whether it's just Germans that think so.
Willi, Willie, Willy
Fritz
Bent, Bente
Fanny
Lion (LEE-awn)
Arian (A-ree-an)
Christian (KRIS-tee-an)
When asked about these names on german sites, people usually comment on a negativ english meaning. I'd just like to know, whether a person with this name would have a problem in an english-speaking country or whether it's just Germans that think so.
Willi, Willie, Willy
Fritz
Bent, Bente
Fanny
Lion (LEE-awn)
Arian (A-ree-an)
Christian (KRIS-tee-an)
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
Willie used to be used more as a nickname but seems out of date rather like Dick or Abe. I think it is still occasionally used in the south, but it is rarely used on its own. Willy (that spelling) is occasionally used to refer to a man's privates. Willi makes me think of getting the willies (jitters).
Fritz - too stereotypically German.
Bent, Bente - Bent is to wordy and broken. Brent works okay though.
Fanny - No. It is slang for a bottom.
Lion (LEE-awn) - If you want that pronunciation, then Leon would be a better bet.
Arian (A-ree-an) - sounds too much like Aryan, which you wouldn't want to use especially if you are German. (I'm sure you know this.)
Christian (KRIS-tee-an) - It would probably end up being pronounced in the English way. It isn't my cup of tea but isn't unusual.
Fritz - too stereotypically German.
Bent, Bente - Bent is to wordy and broken. Brent works okay though.
Fanny - No. It is slang for a bottom.
Lion (LEE-awn) - If you want that pronunciation, then Leon would be a better bet.
Arian (A-ree-an) - sounds too much like Aryan, which you wouldn't want to use especially if you are German. (I'm sure you know this.)
Christian (KRIS-tee-an) - It would probably end up being pronounced in the English way. It isn't my cup of tea but isn't unusual.
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I live in the US.
(Short version: personally the only one I'd be comfortable using for a kid is Fritz. I probably would hesitate to use the others even if I liked them, but I wouldn't say they're unusable - Dick and Butch are some names I do feel are unusable, for comparison. Though, I'd hesitate on Fritz, too, if I wasn't comfortable with how German it sounds).
I don't like Willy because I immediately think of the phrase "the willies" (like "the creeps" "the jitters") meaning anxiety. It's also dated seeming (I expect someone about Willie Nelson's age).
...I guess I don't care that willy is slang for penis - I don't really associate that directly (same with Peter); Dick is much more common as slang for penis (and used in a more derogatory way, "rude person"); that's the only name that seems problematic to me for this association.
Fritz seems old-fashioned and vaguely frazzled IMO but in a likable way. I don't think it'd be problematic. I'd put it in the same style group as Mitzi and Dietrich and Fran.
I do think Bent seems nonsensically wordy in a negative way, but Bentley has been popular recently, so I'm not sure it matters considering it could blend in as a short form of that. Bente just seems foreign (so, could be problematic in that I doubt most Americans would pronounce it correctly if reading it, but otherwise not a big deal).
I have met a (non-German) Fanny, and it worked fine. It's potentially awkward because of old slang, and it's very out-of-fashion, but it's also recognizable/established; I don't know if I'd say having it is a "problem" except around preteens being silly maybe. No one I know actually uses it as a word for butt - it'd more likely come up in conversation in connection to fanny packs. It seems about as problematic as Dotty and Pansy do to me, and I like those anyway.
(Short version: personally the only one I'd be comfortable using for a kid is Fritz. I probably would hesitate to use the others even if I liked them, but I wouldn't say they're unusable - Dick and Butch are some names I do feel are unusable, for comparison. Though, I'd hesitate on Fritz, too, if I wasn't comfortable with how German it sounds).
I don't like Willy because I immediately think of the phrase "the willies" (like "the creeps" "the jitters") meaning anxiety. It's also dated seeming (I expect someone about Willie Nelson's age).
...I guess I don't care that willy is slang for penis - I don't really associate that directly (same with Peter); Dick is much more common as slang for penis (and used in a more derogatory way, "rude person"); that's the only name that seems problematic to me for this association.
Fritz seems old-fashioned and vaguely frazzled IMO but in a likable way. I don't think it'd be problematic. I'd put it in the same style group as Mitzi and Dietrich and Fran.
I do think Bent seems nonsensically wordy in a negative way, but Bentley has been popular recently, so I'm not sure it matters considering it could blend in as a short form of that. Bente just seems foreign (so, could be problematic in that I doubt most Americans would pronounce it correctly if reading it, but otherwise not a big deal).
I have met a (non-German) Fanny, and it worked fine. It's potentially awkward because of old slang, and it's very out-of-fashion, but it's also recognizable/established; I don't know if I'd say having it is a "problem" except around preteens being silly maybe. No one I know actually uses it as a word for butt - it'd more likely come up in conversation in connection to fanny packs. It seems about as problematic as Dotty and Pansy do to me, and I like those anyway.
This message was edited 2/13/2023, 3:23 PM
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Fritz and Christian would be fine. "On the fritz" isn't bothersome
Willie and Willy are names but they are kind of unusual these days. Will is much more common.
Bent/Bente would be confusing but ultimately OK. Bente probably better than Bent
Lion would seem silly
I've known a couple Arians and it takes a minute to realize it's an OK name
Willie and Willy are names but they are kind of unusual these days. Will is much more common.
Bent/Bente would be confusing but ultimately OK. Bente probably better than Bent
Lion would seem silly
I've known a couple Arians and it takes a minute to realize it's an OK name
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I think Fanny and Lion would definitely be a problem. Lion just because it is spelled like the animal and that pronunciation would not be what people say unless it is spelled Leon. People would be bound to pronounce Christian the English way. Arian is interesting, it would require some explaining on pronunciation and I can't tell if it is supposed to be a boy or girl name, but I think it can work. Willi, Willie, Willy I only see as nicknames and don't think they should be names on their own and some teasing is possible. I would just nickname Will and probably the full name Wilhelm, but expect a W sound instead of a V. Fritz I only know as a last name, but would know how to say it, though it would stand out. Point of reference though, I do live in an area that was settled mostly by Germans, hence the knowledge of this as a last name. I'm not sure everyone would. Bent, Bente - seems like the word bent and would probably be pronounced that way and I just don't think it would go so well in English speaking countries.
Edit: Apparently I am unfamiliar with the Aryan association despite living in a highly German influenced area of the U.S. and being of German descent and having a friend whose middle name is Adolf. I think Arian looks like a lot of trendy names now like Aria, Ariana, Adrian, Ari, Ariyah, etc. How long before most people don't know about the association in the U.S.? For reference, I'm 29, enjoy history and am fairly well educated.
Edit: Apparently I am unfamiliar with the Aryan association despite living in a highly German influenced area of the U.S. and being of German descent and having a friend whose middle name is Adolf. I think Arian looks like a lot of trendy names now like Aria, Ariana, Adrian, Ari, Ariyah, etc. How long before most people don't know about the association in the U.S.? For reference, I'm 29, enjoy history and am fairly well educated.
This message was edited 2/9/2023, 12:47 PM
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I hope it will be a very long time before most people in the US don't know about the ideology of Nazi Germany.
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Yes, people need to know about the ideology of Nazi Germany and the history that took place, but this Aryan thing seems to be more modern and based on Nazi ideology and most people don't get that deep into the knowledge or know much of what happened after WWII and Hitler's death, so I was surprised that so many users knew Aryan was anything.
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The concept of an Aryan race emerged in the 19th century and thus predates Nazi Germany.
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Well I don’t think the name, especially when spelled Arian, is going to be a problem in the U.S. when all I can find is a gang from 1964 with the name Aryan. So, maybe they wouldn’t want to use it on principle, but the question of it being a problematic name in the United States, I think is unlikely.
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What do you mean by "all I can find is a gang from 1964 with the name Aryan"? Find where?
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I think they mean the Aryan Brotherhood, which was established in 1964 and is very much an active white supremacist group. They are probably one of the better-known prison gangs in the United States due to how large, well-organized, and deadly they are. I am happy that for Gingersnap that they were previously unfamiliar with the AB, but I wouldn't call it a niche thing to have heard of. They come up in almost any kind of media that deals with prisons.
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Arian is the male version of Aria or Ariana.
Yeah, some pronounciation would be difficult.
Lion is the german spelling of the english pronounciation of Leon - in Germany, Leon is pronounced "LEH-awn". So it's the attempt to make the name easier in Germany - but more difficult in english speaking countries.
About Willie: If asked about this name on german websites, most people will tell you about it being slang for p*nis.
Bent is pronounced like the english word bent - which Germans say is an english slang word for "gay"
Yeah, some pronounciation would be difficult.
Lion is the german spelling of the english pronounciation of Leon - in Germany, Leon is pronounced "LEH-awn". So it's the attempt to make the name easier in Germany - but more difficult in english speaking countries.
About Willie: If asked about this name on german websites, most people will tell you about it being slang for p*nis.
Bent is pronounced like the english word bent - which Germans say is an english slang word for "gay"
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"bent" is UK slang. Most people here are from the US.
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Oh maybe the "bent" thing is more common in the UK. I've heard it in UK contexts but never in America.
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Yeah, I've never heard bent as slang for gay in America.
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I feel like I've heard it a lot, but I can't single out any memories of an American saying it. I guess I will blame movies.
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Christian is fine but I could see the others all having issues in the UK.
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Willi, Willie, Willy -- usually nicknames for William. Will tends to be a more popular option nowadays, but it wouldn't be weird to meet someone with one of those names.
Fritz -- it isn't commonly used in the U.S., but again, I don't think it would cause issues. If someone really wanted to tease you, then the "on the fritz" association might come up, but it's not like people would just be laughing at the name or think of it in a negative light.
Bent, Bente -- Most people in the U.S. would have trouble with this one, I'm guessing. It doesn't really seem like a name, and I wouldn't be sure how to pronounce it without asking.
Fanny -- Fanny is slang for butt, and even though it's not used all that often (at least where I'm from) it still has that association.
Lion -- Nice, but there would be trouble with pronounciation.
Arian -- Not bad. I'm guessing most people would avoid pronouncing it like Aryan due to negative associations.
Christian -- This is used as name in the U.S. No trouble with it.
Fritz -- it isn't commonly used in the U.S., but again, I don't think it would cause issues. If someone really wanted to tease you, then the "on the fritz" association might come up, but it's not like people would just be laughing at the name or think of it in a negative light.
Bent, Bente -- Most people in the U.S. would have trouble with this one, I'm guessing. It doesn't really seem like a name, and I wouldn't be sure how to pronounce it without asking.
Fanny -- Fanny is slang for butt, and even though it's not used all that often (at least where I'm from) it still has that association.
Lion -- Nice, but there would be trouble with pronounciation.
Arian -- Not bad. I'm guessing most people would avoid pronouncing it like Aryan due to negative associations.
Christian -- This is used as name in the U.S. No trouble with it.
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Thank you!
Willi, Willie, Willy is actually the name with the most criticism of this list. Pretty much all Germans would go like: "Oh my Gosh! That's slang for p*nis!"
"On the fritz" I never heard before. I just always read, that "the Fritz" is slang for "the Germans" and therefore it's not smart to name your kid Fritz - since it might work in an englishspeaking environment.
Bent is pronounced like the vocabulary "to bend - bent - bent". And some germans go nuts about bent being slang for "gay".
Lion is the german spelling of the english pronounciation of Leon.
Willi, Willie, Willy is actually the name with the most criticism of this list. Pretty much all Germans would go like: "Oh my Gosh! That's slang for p*nis!"
"On the fritz" I never heard before. I just always read, that "the Fritz" is slang for "the Germans" and therefore it's not smart to name your kid Fritz - since it might work in an englishspeaking environment.
Bent is pronounced like the vocabulary "to bend - bent - bent". And some germans go nuts about bent being slang for "gay".
Lion is the german spelling of the english pronounciation of Leon.
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Well, they go nuts for a reason.
It would be really difficult to be named Fanny or Bent in the UK.
Fanny means "vagina" in the UK and "butt" in the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl1Zfz-Widc (in this case it's worse because of her surname, but just Fanny would get a similar reaction).
Willy is slang for penis. It's not that bad because not everyone uses it but I wouldn't recommend it either. I think it's used more in the UK as well.
It would be really difficult to be named Fanny or Bent in the UK.
Fanny means "vagina" in the UK and "butt" in the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl1Zfz-Widc (in this case it's worse because of her surname, but just Fanny would get a similar reaction).
Willy is slang for penis. It's not that bad because not everyone uses it but I wouldn't recommend it either. I think it's used more in the UK as well.
This message was edited 2/12/2023, 5:01 AM
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Oh I forgot about the p**** slang. That would be more of an issue for older generations but might cause a giggle or two. Nothing too major.
I never heard that about Fritz being slang for the Germans. It's definitely a distinctly German name but it wouldn't cause problems. In fact I have this suspicion it's about to get trendy here. Fritz for boys, Eudora for girls.
I never heard that about Fritz being slang for the Germans. It's definitely a distinctly German name but it wouldn't cause problems. In fact I have this suspicion it's about to get trendy here. Fritz for boys, Eudora for girls.
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That's funny, because I've never heard someone in America refer to Germans as "the Fritz". I'm guessing that is more outdated slang. Same goes for Willi/Willie/Willy. Technically, it can be slang for 🍆, but I've never actually heard someone use it and it wouldn't be weird if it was someone's name.
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That's good to know. Several times parents have been really insecure about Willi as a given name ...
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Willy etc - better to go with Will or William
Fritz - not great ("on the fritz" means something isn't working consistently), but not awful. I think it's pretty associated with German-speakers
Bent, Bente - Bent just doesn't sound very name-y. It could be viewed as slang, but not slang that young people would use in the US. I can't speak for other countries. People wouldn't know how to pronounce Bente at all.
Fanny - I'd avoid it, especially in the UK or areas that use more UK slang. In the US it still isn't great.
Lion - people will assume it is pronounced like the animal, so if you want it pronounced right I'd spell it Leon
Arian - too close to Aryan to work well in the US and probably Canada (again I can't speak for other areas), but if you can spell it in a way to get the first A to sound like "ah/aw" it would be ok.
Christian - fine, just likely to be pronounced the same way we pronounce the word in our countries.
Fritz - not great ("on the fritz" means something isn't working consistently), but not awful. I think it's pretty associated with German-speakers
Bent, Bente - Bent just doesn't sound very name-y. It could be viewed as slang, but not slang that young people would use in the US. I can't speak for other countries. People wouldn't know how to pronounce Bente at all.
Fanny - I'd avoid it, especially in the UK or areas that use more UK slang. In the US it still isn't great.
Lion - people will assume it is pronounced like the animal, so if you want it pronounced right I'd spell it Leon
Arian - too close to Aryan to work well in the US and probably Canada (again I can't speak for other areas), but if you can spell it in a way to get the first A to sound like "ah/aw" it would be ok.
Christian - fine, just likely to be pronounced the same way we pronounce the word in our countries.
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Thanks a lot.
I never heard "on the fritz" before. I only hear Germans say, Fritz is not a good name 'cause it's an english slang word for "Germans".
Lion is the German spelling of the english pronunciation of Leon. Germans would pronounce Leon as "LEH-awn".
I never heard "on the fritz" before. I only hear Germans say, Fritz is not a good name 'cause it's an english slang word for "Germans".
Lion is the German spelling of the english pronunciation of Leon. Germans would pronounce Leon as "LEH-awn".
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Yeah, I've not heard it's slang for Germans (maybe that is a British thing? and it doesn't change my opinion), only the "on the fritz" (comparable to "out of order" or "it's fried") phrase which I think I've mainly heard in old American movies.
This message was edited 2/12/2023, 5:53 PM
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As a slang word for Germans, it is pretty old (and also has a negative connotation). People my age (early 30s) would recognize it, but would be very unlikely to use it. Younger people might not recognize it. If you named a baby this now, it is unlikely that their peers would think of it as an epithet.
I understand that re: Lion. Fine in Germany, mispronounced in the Anglosphere.
Also, since I have seen your concerns about Willy in some other comments, yes "willy" can mean penis. I think it is more common in the UK and possible the other Commonwealth countries than in the US. Here it comes across as very childish slang. An adult wouldn't use it unless they are joking around by intentionally being childish or something, but they might wonder why you would use Willy rather than Will or the full name because of the slang. It would sound a little funny to me if someone introduced themself as "Willy."
I understand that re: Lion. Fine in Germany, mispronounced in the Anglosphere.
Also, since I have seen your concerns about Willy in some other comments, yes "willy" can mean penis. I think it is more common in the UK and possible the other Commonwealth countries than in the US. Here it comes across as very childish slang. An adult wouldn't use it unless they are joking around by intentionally being childish or something, but they might wonder why you would use Willy rather than Will or the full name because of the slang. It would sound a little funny to me if someone introduced themself as "Willy."
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I don't think Christian would cause an issue. I'd avoid the others at all costs.
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What's the issue with Fritz, too German?
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I'm sure it's regional, but it does immediately put to mind the generic informal term for Germans. Very WW1.
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Interesting!! I've never heard that term... I'm in southeastern US.
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