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HelpRe: English opinion on German names
in reply to a message by tibby
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.
Yeah, Lion is going to be constantly mixed up with both lions and Leon. In theory, it should work because Dion does, but my initial reaction is that it looks silly comparable to how Cougar would or to say that Tiger would look more expected...
Arian is ok/lowkey (many similar names are somewhat common - Aria, Arianna, Ariana, Ari, Arya, Aryan, Arjan, Arjun...) unless the surname sounds like Haight, and even then (I had a coworker with that full name: and while yes, it is cringy on job applications), it's fairly innocuous and people get over it quickly.
Christian is completely normal seeming. I mean I don't like it really, but it's a very established word name like Roman, etc. I'd only look twice at it if the middle name was Muhammad or Messiah or Jezebel or something.
(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.
Yeah, Lion is going to be constantly mixed up with both lions and Leon. In theory, it should work because Dion does, but my initial reaction is that it looks silly comparable to how Cougar would or to say that Tiger would look more expected...
Arian is ok/lowkey (many similar names are somewhat common - Aria, Arianna, Ariana, Ari, Arya, Aryan, Arjan, Arjun...) unless the surname sounds like Haight, and even then (I had a coworker with that full name: and while yes, it is cringy on job applications), it's fairly innocuous and people get over it quickly.
Christian is completely normal seeming. I mean I don't like it really, but it's a very established word name like Roman, etc. I'd only look twice at it if the middle name was Muhammad or Messiah or Jezebel or something.
This message was edited 2/13/2023, 3:23 PM
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