German boy names carry more history per syllable than almost any other naming tradition, and they are not stuck in the past. Noah, Matteo, Theo, Leo and Emil topped the 2025 rankings in Germany, drawn from 830,000 names reported by 749 registry offices (1).
Below are 105 of them, each with its meaning, a plain phonetic respelling, a current popularity reading wherever the federal data has one, and the notable bearers where there are any. Every current U.S. figure here comes from the Social Security Administration’s 2025 data year (2), not from a number copied off an older list.
A few of these sit in the American top 15 today. Others have not been given to five boys in a single year since the 1960s. We say plainly which is which, so you can tell a classic from a genuine rarity.
Which German Boy Names Are Most Popular Right Now?
Oliver is the highest-ranked name on this list in the United States, at #3 in 2025, followed by Henry at #5, Elias at #13, Luca at #14 and Michael at #21, all figures for the 2025 data year. Germany ranks them differently: the 2025 list from the Gesellschaft fuer deutsche Sprache, built from 830,000 names reported by 749 registry offices, put Noah first, Matteo second and Theo third. The independent beliebte-vornamen.de ranking, built from about 250,000 birth notifications covering roughly 40 percent of German births, agrees on Noah and Matteo but puts Elias third (3).
Popularity at a Glance
The most popular names on this list in the United States, 1965 to 2025: Oliver, Henry, Elias, Luca and Michael.
- Oliver
- Henry
- Elias
- Luca
- Michael
The chart puts five of those names on shared axes, each scaled to its own peak so the shapes can be compared. Michael is the outlier: it was the number one boys’ name in America in 1954 and its line has been falling for fifty years, while Oliver, Luca and Elias all trace the same steep late climb. Henry sits between the two, an old name that dipped for most of the last century and reached its highest rank ever, #5, in 2025.
105 Popular German Names for Boys
Each entry below gives the name’s gender, origin, meaning, a plain phonetic respelling and, where the federal data has a record, its current U.S. standing. Use the filter to jump to a letter.
Adam
Adam is the Hebrew name of the first man, tied to the word for earth or ground, and it works as a spiritual name without ever sounding heavy. German parents have used it steadily alongside English speakers, so it crosses the Atlantic with no explaining and no respelling. That is the practical appeal here. If you want a German connection your relatives can pronounce on the first try, Adam clears the bar easily. Nicknames stay simple too, since Ad and Addy are about the only ones on offer.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Son of the red earth
- Pronunciation: Ah-dam
- Namesakes: Adam Sandler, an American actor and funny man who has been in over 60 movies since the early 1990s.
- Popularity: Adam ranked #101 in the U.S. in 2025, given to 3,501 boys, which is roughly one in every 488 born that year. Its best showing was #18 in 1983, and the peak birth year was 1984.
Adelbert
Adelbert pairs the Old German elements for noble and bright, and it is the fuller, older sibling of Albert. Adelbert von Chamisso carried it into German literature with Peter Schlemihl, the story of a man who sells his shadow. The name has been out of American circulation for three decades, which makes it uncommon in fact, not just uncommon-sounding. Bert works as a nickname if you want a quiet nod to a grandfather without repeating his name outright. Adelbert also gives you a rare thing among long German names: a first syllable, Adel, that means exactly what it looks like.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Noble & bright
- Pronunciation: A-del-bert
- Namesakes: Adelbert von Chamisso, a German poet, best known as the creator of Peter Schlemihl, a story in which a man barters away his shadow.
- Popularity: Adelbert last appeared in the U.S. federal data in 1995, when five boys were given the name. It has never recovered from a peak of 56 births in 1914, and its best rank was #667 in 1918.
Alaric
Alaric comes from the Gothic Alareiks, built from alls meaning all and reiks meaning ruler or king. The first Alaric was the Visigoth king who sacked Rome in the 5th century, so the regal reading is not marketing, it is history. The name is also having a quiet American moment, helped along by Alaric Saltzman in The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off Legacies.
- Origin: Gothic
- Meaning: Ruler of all
- Pronunciation: Al-ah-rik
- Namesakes: Alaric Jackson, an American football player who plays for the LA Rams in the NFL.
- Popularity: Alaric climbed to #1,063 in the U.S. in 2025 with 205 boys, up 222 percent on the previous decade. It first appeared in the federal data in 1949 and hit its highest rank, #822, in 2020.
Albrecht
Albrecht is the German form of Albert and a close relative of Adelbert. Albrecht Duerer gave it its most famous bearer, the Renaissance painter and printmaker whose woodcuts are still the reference point for the form. For an English-speaking family the -recht ending is the only real hurdle, and it settles quickly once heard. Choose it when you want to honor an Albert without handing your son the same name.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Noble
- Pronunciation: AL-brekht
- Variations: Albert
- Namesakes: Albrecht Durer, a German painter and printmaker. He was a theorist of the German Renaissance, best known for his high-quality woodcut prints.
- Popularity: Albrecht is not listed in the U.S. federal name data at all, which only records names given to at least five boys in a year. The American series shows no ranking for it in any year.
Alvin
Alvin carries the sense of a noble or elf friend, and its American story is a long slow decline from a popular 1920s name to an uncommon one. The cartoon chipmunk is the association most people reach for first, and there is no getting around it.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Friend
- Pronunciation: AL-vin
- Namesakes: Alvin Toffler, an American writer, businessman, and futurist, best known for his discussions on the digital revolution and communication revolution.
- Popularity: Alvin sat at #838 in the U.S. in 2025 with 294 boys, down about 18 percent on the previous decade. Its high point was #66 in 1927, when 2,883 boys were named Alvin.
Andreas
Andreas is the German and Greek form of Andrew, from a root meaning manly. Saint Andrew was one of the first disciples and is patron saint of Scotland, of fishermen and of singers, so the name comes with a deep bench of associations. Andreas also travels well through Scandinavia and central Europe, which matters if your family spans more than one country. English speakers reliably land on an-DRAY-us, and Andy remains available for the playground.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Man
- Pronunciation: An-dray-as
- Namesakes: Andreas Christensen, a Danish soccer player, who plays for the Denmark national team and the UK club Chelsea.
- Popularity: Andreas held #1,276 in the U.S. in 2025 with 154 boys, a level it has kept fairly steady for a decade. Its peak birth year was actually 2024, and its best rank was #734 in 1966.
Anton
Anton is the German and Slavic form of Anthony, and it is shorter and cleaner on the ear than the English version. Saint Anthony of Padua, the one people petition for lost keys, stands behind it. Anton Yelchin gave the name a modern American face as Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek films. Antonia and Antonella are the sister names if a girl follows, and Tony works for either.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Priceless
- Pronunciation: AN-tawn
- Namesakes: Anton Yelchin, an American actor, best known for his role in the reboot of Star Trek movies before his accidental death.
- Popularity: Anton ranked #1,389 in the U.S. in 2025 with 132 boys, down roughly 22 percent on the previous decade. It has been in the federal data since 1880 and peaked in 1914.
Armin
Armin is usually read as a form of Hermann, tied to the Latinized Arminius, the Cheruscan leader who defeated three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. That gives it a guardian or defender sense with real history behind it. Armin Shimerman is the bearer most American audiences know, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Deep Space Nine.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Guardian
- Pronunciation: Ahr-min
- Namesakes: Armin Shimmerman, an American actor, best known for the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- Popularity: Armin reached #2,038 in the U.S. in 2025 with 73 boys, up more than 50 percent on the previous decade. It has been recorded since 1893 but has never been common.
Arndt
Arndt is a German short form of Arnold, from the elements for eagle and power, and it doubles as a surname and first name. The consonant cluster at the end is the whole challenge, and most English speakers land on something close to ARNT. Arndt Pekurinen, the Finnish pacifist jailed in 1929 for refusing conscription, is the name’s most striking bearer. It is an unusual alternative to Arnold if that name feels dated.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Eagle
- Pronunciation: Ar-nt
- Variations: Arno
- Namesakes: Arndt Pekurinen, a Finnish conscientious objector and pacifist who was imprisoned between 1929 and 1931 for refusing mandatory conscription.
- Popularity: Arndt does not appear in the U.S. federal name data, which lists only names given to five or more boys in a year, so it has never carried an American ranking.
Artur
Artur is the German, Polish and Portuguese form of Arthur, a name whose origin is still argued over: the Celtic word for bear is the favorite, the Roman family name Artorius the main rival. What is not in doubt is the weight the name carries after fifteen centuries of Arthurian legend. Drop one letter from Arthur and you get a spelling that reads as continental rather than storybook.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Bear-like
- Pronunciation: Ar-tuhr
- Popularity: Artur ranked #4,148 in the U.S. in 2025 with 25 boys, a small rise on the previous decade. It first entered the federal data in 1964.
August
August comes from the Latin augustus, meaning venerable or magnificent, the title the Roman senate gave Octavian. In German it has served as a first name for centuries, from Saxon electors to August Strindberg’s namesakes. Its American surge has been sharp, up 256 percent on the previous decade, and it arrives with two very different nicknames in Gus and Auggie. It is also an obvious pick for a late-summer baby, though nothing about the name insists on it.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Magnificent
- Pronunciation: OW-guwst
- Popularity: August had its best year on record in 2025, ranking #81 in the U.S. with 3,958 boys, up 256 percent on the previous decade. It is one of eleven names on this list currently inside the U.S. top 100.
Axel
Axel is the medieval Danish form of Absalom, the Hebrew name of King David’s son, usually glossed as father of peace. German and Scandinavian families have shared it for centuries. In American pop culture it belongs to Axel Foley of Beverly Hills Cop and to Axl Rose, which gives the name a rock-and-roll edge the etymology never intended. It is both authentically old and currently fashionable, which makes it a cool name without trying.
- Origin: Danish
- Meaning: Father of peace
- Pronunciation: A-ksəl
- Namesakes: Axl Rose, an American singer and frontman of the heavy metal band Guns N’ Roses.
- Popularity: Axel ranked #79 in the U.S. in 2025 with 4,140 boys, up 122 percent on the previous decade. Its best rank was #71 in 2023 and its peak birth year was 2020.
Bastian
Bastian is a short form of Sebastian, the name of a man from Sebaste in Asia Minor. Every German reader of a certain age hears Bastian Balthazar Bux, the boy who reads himself into The Neverending Story. Bastian Schweinsteiger gave it a second life on the football pitch. Bastian itself stays rare in the United States, at 219 boys in 2025, so the sound arrives without a classroom full of them. The German stress falls on the first syllable, BAS-tyan, which is the one thing English speakers tend to get backwards.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Man of Sebastia
- Pronunciation: Bas-tyan
- Variations: Sebastian
- Namesakes: Bastian Schweinsteiger, a German professional soccer player who won the 2014 World Cup with Germany and is now a German broadcaster.
- Popularity: Bastian reached #1,021 in the U.S. in 2025 with 219 boys, up 234 percent on the previous decade. It only entered the federal data in 1991, so its whole American history is recent.
Benedict
Benedict comes from the Latin benedictus, meaning blessed, and it belongs first to Saint Benedict of Nursia, who wrote the rule that still governs Benedictine monasteries. Sixteen popes have carried it. For English speakers the modern reference point is Benedict Cumberbatch, which has done the name no harm at all. If Benjamin feels overused in your circle, Benedict gives you the same opening syllable with a longer history and the German nickname Benno as an alternative to plain Ben.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Blessed
- Pronunciation: Behn-e-dikt
- Namesakes: Benedict Cumberbatch, an English actor, best known for his role as Doctor Strange in the MCU and TVs Sherlock.
- Popularity: Benedict hit its highest birth count on record in 2025, ranking #814 in the U.S. with 305 boys, up 130 percent on the previous decade. Its best rank remains #447, set back in 1914.
Berengar
Berengar joins the Old German elements for bear and spear, and it belonged to Berengar I and Berengar II, kings of Italy in the 9th and 10th centuries, the second a grandson of the first. That is a unique name in the strictest sense: the U.S. federal data has never recorded it, and that data lists only names given to at least five boys in a year. The four syllables are a commitment, but Ben and Bear both fall out of it naturally.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Bear & spear
- Pronunciation: Ber-en-ghar
- Namesakes: Berengar I and Berengar II, kings of Italy in the 9th and 10th centuries.
- Popularity: Berengar is absent from the U.S. federal name data, which records only names given to at least five boys in a year. It is a historical German name rather than a current one.
Bernhard
Bernhard is the German spelling of Bernard, from the elements for bear and hardy or brave. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux made it a medieval standard across Europe, and the Alpine rescue dogs carry his name at one remove. The German form with the h is now vanishingly rare in the United States, which is exactly its appeal if Bernard sounds like your grandfather. Bernie and Bernd both work as short forms, and the second is what a German would actually use.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Strong as a bear
- Pronunciation: Bern-hartd
- Namesakes: Bernhard Raimann, an Austrian football player for the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL.
- Popularity: Bernhard last appeared in the U.S. federal data in 2021, with six boys. Its best American rank was #844 in 1916, the year it peaked at 55 births, and it has been a rarity here ever since.
Bertram
Bertram combines the Old German elements for bright and raven, which puts it in a small family of bird names that sound nothing like nature names. Ravens are among the most inventive birds alive, capable of tool use and of holding a grudge, so the imagery has more in it than most. Shakespeare gave the name to the reluctant count in All’s Well That Ends Well.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Bright raven
- Pronunciation: Behr-tram
- Popularity: Bertram ranked #8,353 in the U.S. in 2025 with nine boys. It was a popular name a century ago, peaking at 203 births in 1917 and reaching #394 in 1923.
Bjorn
Bjorn is Old Norse for bear, and it is Scandinavian first: German reference works list the German spelling Bjoern as rare. It is on a German-names list because northern Germany has borrowed it thoroughly, the way it has borrowed Nils and Torsten. Bjorn Borg won eleven Grand Slam titles and is still the name’s most famous bearer worldwide. The American spelling drops the umlaut, which costs you nothing in pronunciation and saves a lifetime of form-filling. Bear names run right through this list, from Bernhard to Berengar to Artur, and Bjorn is the plainest of them.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: Bear
- Pronunciation: Bee-yorn
- Namesakes: Bjorn Borg, a Swedish tennis player, ranked Sweden’s #1 in 1979 and who held 11 Grand Slam titles.
- Popularity: Bjorn ranked #829 in the U.S. in 2025 with 298 boys, up 448 percent on the previous decade. Its peak birth year was 2024.
Botho
Botho comes from the Old German element for messenger or commander, and the U.S. federal data has never recorded it at all. Botho Strauss, the playwright and novelist behind Der junge Mann, is its best-known modern bearer. Two open syllables make it easier to say than most German names of its vintage, and the double o gives it a softness that Bertram and Berengar do not have.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Messenger
- Pronunciation: BOH-toh
- Namesakes: Botho Strauss, a German playwright best known for Der Junge Mann or The Young Man.
- Popularity: Botho does not appear in the U.S. federal name data, which lists only names given to five or more boys in a year. That leaves it outside the American ranking altogether.
Bruno
Bruno comes from the Old German element brunna, meaning armor or protection, though the resemblance to the word for brown has always colored how people hear it. Saint Bruno of Cologne founded the Carthusian order in 1084, the strictest of the Western monastic rules. Lewis Carroll used the name in Sylvie and Bruno, and Iris Murdoch in Bruno’s Dream. Bruno Mars keeps it current, and the name is up about 40 percent on the previous decade without anyone calling it a trend.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Armor, protection
- Pronunciation: Broo-no
- Namesakes: Bruno Mars, an American singer, best known for his song Grenade.
- Popularity: Bruno ranked #740 in the U.S. in 2025 with 351 boys, up 41 percent on the previous decade. Its best rank, #259, dates back to 1915.
Christian
Christian means exactly what it says, a follower of Christ, and it has been a boy’s name in German-speaking Europe since the Middle Ages. Ten Danish kings have borne it, and Chris and Christo both work day to day. Its American rank peaked at #21 in 2006, twenty years behind it now, which for a lot of parents is the sweet spot: familiar to everyone, no longer everywhere. The German pronunciation KRIS-tyahn is worth hearing at least once before you decide.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Follower of Christ
- Pronunciation: Kris-tyan
- Variations: Kristian
- Namesakes: Christian Bale, an English actor and Oscar winner, best known for playing Batman in the Christopher Nolan trilogy and American Psycho.
- Popularity: Christian ranked #96 in the U.S. in 2025 with 3,641 boys, still inside the top 100 but down 47 percent on the previous decade. It reached its all-time high of #21 in 2006 and its peak birth year was 1996.
Christoph
Christoph is the German form of Christopher, from the Greek for bearing Christ. Saint Christopher, who carried the child across the river, is the patron of travellers and still rides on a great many dashboards. Christoph Waltz has given the name a distinctly urbane modern sound in English-language film. You keep every familiar nickname, Chris included, and lose only the final syllable, which is the part English speakers stumble over anyway. Christoph Willibald Gluck reformed opera under it in the 18th century, so the name has a foot in music as well as in the church.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Holds Christ in his heart
- Pronunciation: Kris-tof
- Variations: Christof
- Namesakes: Christoph Waltz, an Austrian-German actor, best known for the Bond movies Specter and No Time to Die, Django Unchained, and Inglourious Basterds.
- Popularity: Christoph ranked #6,525 in the U.S. in 2025 with 13 boys, holding roughly steady over the past decade. Its best American rank was #1,417 in 1969.
Claus
Claus is the northern German short form of Nikolaus, from the Greek for victory of the people. The Santa association is unavoidable in English, and it is worth deciding early whether that is charming or exhausting. In Germany the name reads quite differently, closer to Claus von Bulow or Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg than to anything with reindeer. What you give up compared with Nicholas is the nickname Nick. What you get instead is one syllable and five letters. Klaus with a K is the commoner German spelling if the C looks too close to the sleigh.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Leads people to victory
- Pronunciation: Klows
- Variations: Klaus
- Popularity: Claus last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 1980, with five boys. It has never ranked well here, peaking at 13 births in 1916.
Conrad
Conrad means brave counsel, from the Old German elements kuoni for brave and rat for counsel or advice. Several German kings and a saint have carried it, and Joseph Conrad borrowed it as a surname. It has been in the American records every year since 1880, and it is rising again now.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Brave counsel
- Pronunciation: Con-rhad
- Namesakes: Conrad Khan, an English actor, best known for his role in the Peaky Blinders TV show.
- Popularity: Conrad ranked #417 in the U.S. in 2025 with 770 boys, up 92 percent on the previous decade. It has appeared in the federal data every year since 1880.
Curt
Curt is a spelling variant of Kurt, which is a German contracted form of Conrad rather than a name meaning courteous, whatever older baby-name books say. The elements underneath are the same kuoni and rat that give Conrad its brave counsel. Kurt Russell and Curt Smith of Tears for Fears cover both spellings between them. Either spelling reads the same out loud, so choosing between the C and the K is a paperwork decision rather than a sound one. Konrad, the full German form, is there if you want the long version on the birth certificate and the short one at home.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Brave counsel
- Pronunciation: Kurt
- Variations: Kurt
- Namesakes: Curt Smith, an English singer-songwriter and member of the band Tears for Fears. Kurt Russell, an American actor with a career spanning over 50 years.
- Popularity: Curt last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2024, with nine boys. It was popular in the middle of the last century, reaching #292 in 1960 with 720 births.
Daniel
Daniel is Hebrew for God is my judge, and the prophet who read the writing on the wall and survived the lions’ den is one of the Old Testament’s most cinematic figures. The name is a permanent fixture in Germany as well as in English-speaking countries, which is precisely why it is here. Danny, Dan and the German Dani are all in play. If you want a name your son will never have to spell out and never have to explain, Daniel qualifies.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: God is my judge
- Pronunciation: Dan-ee-ell
- Namesakes: Daniel Craig, an English actor best known as James Bond. Daniel Radcliffe, an English actor, best recognized as Harry Potter.
- Popularity: Daniel ranked #22 in the U.S. in 2025 with 8,085 boys, one of eleven names here inside the current top 100. It reached #5 in 1985, and nearly two million American boys have carried it since 1880.
Dennis
Dennis traces back through the French Denis to Dionysius, a follower of the Greek god Dionysus. Saint Denis, beheaded on Montmartre, is the patron saint of France, and the Normans carried the name into England and the German lands. The mid-century American Dennis was everywhere; the current one is not, which is a familiar pattern for names that peak hard. It is a good pick if you want something recognizably German-adjacent that is far less common now than it was mid-century.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: God of Nysa
- Pronunciation: Deh-nis
- Variations: Denis
- Namesakes: Dennis Quaid, an American actor with over 100 acting credits in his career spanning over 45 years.
- Popularity: Dennis ranked #707 in the U.S. in 2025 with 381 boys, down 34 percent on the previous decade. It was a top-20 name in 1949 and peaked in 1946 with 21,447 births.
Dieterich
Dieterich is an old German form of Theodoric, from the elements for people and ruler, and it is the ancestor of both Theodore‘s German cousins and of Derek. Dieterich Buxtehude is the name’s giant: the Baroque organist whose playing the young Bach walked some 250 miles to hear. Three heavy syllables make it a serious choice, and Dieter or Theo will do the daily work.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Ruler of the People
- Pronunciation: Dee-ter-ick
- Variations: Diederich, Dieter
- Namesakes: Dieterich Buxtehude, a German composer and organist from the Baroque period, widely regarded as an influence on Johann Sebastian Bach.
- Popularity: Dieterich does not appear in the U.S. federal name data, which records only names given to at least five boys in a year. Nothing in the American data ranks it.
Dirk
Dirk is a Dutch and Low German short form of Diederik, the same name that gives us Dieterich and Derek. In Scots the same four letters name a dagger, and the actor Dirk Bogarde is the reason English speakers know it at all. It is short and sweet in the literal sense, four letters and one syllable, and it makes a sharper alternative to Derek.
- Origin: Dutch and Low German
- Meaning: Ruler of the people
- Pronunciation: DIRK
- Namesakes: Dirk Bogarde, an English actor best known for the classic movie, A Bridge Too Far.
- Popularity: Dirk ranked #4,747 in the U.S. in 2025 with 21 boys, down 28 percent on the previous decade. Its American high point was #341 in 1954.
Egon
Egon comes from the Old German element ecka, the edge or point of a sword, and it is the kind of name that sounds inevitable once you know what it means. Egon Schiele painted his way through Vienna in a decade and left a body of work nobody has matched for nervous energy. For most American families the reference is the nerdy genius of Ghostbusters, which is a gentler association than the etymology.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Strong with a sword
- Pronunciation: E-gawn
- Namesakes: Egon Schiele, an Austrian painter, best known for his expressionist and nude self-portraits.
- Popularity: Egon last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2023, with five boys. Only about 148 American boys have ever been recorded with the name since 1913.
Eike
Eike began as a short form of names starting with the sword element ecka, and it has been a name in its own right in northern Germany for generations. Eike von Repgow compiled the Sachsenspiegel around 1230, the oldest German law book, which is a fine thing to be named after. It is used for boys and girls in Germany. In English it carries almost no association at all, which is either the appeal or the drawback depending on what you want from a name.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Sword
- Pronunciation: IE-ke
- Popularity: Eike entered the U.S. federal data for the first time in 2025, with six boys, at rank #11,038. Before that year no American birth cohort had five of them.
Elias
Elias is the Greek and German form of Elijah, the prophet who called down fire on Mount Carmel and left in a whirlwind. Very few names are simultaneously top-15 in the United States and top-10 in Germany, and Elias is one of them, which is useful for a family with a foot on each side of the Atlantic. Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elias is the German cultural anchor. Eli falls out of it naturally for everyday use.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: The Lord is my God
- Pronunciation: i-lie-as
- Variations: Elia, Elijah
- Namesakes: Elias Pettersson, a Swedish ice hockey player, who plays in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks.
- Popularity: Elias reached its highest rank ever in 2025 at #13 in the U.S. with 8,837 boys, up 133 percent on the previous decade. Germany likes it just as much: the GfdS put it 7th nationally for 2025, and the independent beliebte-vornamen.de ranking put it 3rd.
Elmar
Elmar is a short form of the old Germanic Adelmar, built from the elements for noble and famous. It is easy for English speakers, though the resemblance to Elmer causes occasional confusion, and Elmar is the older and rarer of the two. Fewer than 300 American boys have ever been recorded with the name.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Noble and famous
- Pronunciation: EL-mar
- Popularity: Elmar last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2024, with seven boys. Its highest American rank was #2,150, set in 1923.
Emil
Emil comes from the Roman family name Aemilius, usually traced to a root meaning rival or eager. Its German standing and its American one sit far apart, which is worth knowing if you are choosing for a bilingual family. The GfdS placed it 5th in Germany for 2025; in the United States it ranked #1,269. Erich Kaestner’s Emil und die Detektive has been required reading for German children since 1929. Emil Nolde carried it into Expressionist painting.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Rival, eager
- Pronunciation: Em-eel
- Variations: Emile
- Namesakes: Emil Nolde, a German-Danish painter and one of the first Expressionists.
- Popularity: Emil ranked #1,269 in the U.S. in 2025 with 155 boys, up 45 percent on the previous decade. In Germany it is a top-tier name: the GfdS placed it 5th for 2025 and beliebte-vornamen.de 9th.
Emmerich
Emmerich is a German form of the old name behind Henry, from elements meaning home or estate and ruler or power. Most people meet it first as a surname, through the film director Roland Emmerich. As a first name it gives you Henry’s meaning and Henry’s dignity with none of Henry’s current ubiquity, and Emmy, Rich and Rick are all sitting inside it.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Ruler of the home
- Pronunciation: Em-er-ick
- Popularity: Emmerich ranked #4,586 in the U.S. in 2025 with 22 boys, up 124 percent on the previous decade. It first entered the federal data as recently as 2007.
Ernst
Ernst is the German form of Ernest, from a Germanic word meaning seriousness or earnestness, and the name means precisely what it looks like. It has an unusually strong roster: Ernst Juenger, who wrote Storm of Steel out of four years in the trenches, and Ernst Mach, whose name is now how we measure speed against the speed of sound. The single syllable and the final consonant cluster make it terse in a way the old-fashioned English Ernest is not. It is a good middle name if the full weight of it feels like a lot up front.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Serious
- Pronunciation: Earn-st
- Namesakes: Ernst Junger, a German author and highly decorated soldier known for Storm of Steel, his World War I memoir.
- Popularity: Ernst last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2021, with five boys. Its best American rank was #834 in 1917.
Ewald
Ewald joins the Old German elements for law and rule, so the standard gloss is powerful in the law. Two 7th-century missionary brothers, both called Ewald and distinguished only as the Black and the Fair, were martyred in Saxony and share a feast day. English speakers say it as written, EE-vahlt in German, EE-wald here, and either is fine. It has been off the American books for nearly seventy years. Ewald Lienen kept it visible in German football, first as a player and then in management at St Pauli.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Powerful in the law
- Pronunciation: Ee-wald
- Namesakes: Ewald Lienen, a German soccer manager, former player, and technical director at St Pauli in Hamburg.
- Popularity: Ewald has not appeared in the U.S. federal name data since 1957, when ten boys were given the name. It peaked at 60 births in 1916 and reached #798 in the same year.
Felix
Felix is Latin for lucky or fortunate, one of very few names that is simply a good wish rather than a description of anyone. Sulla took it as a nickname, several popes chose it, and Felix Mendelssohn made it German. Felix Baumgartner jumped from the stratosphere with it in 2012. The spelling is identical in German and English, so nothing about it changes when it crosses the border.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Happy, fortunate
- Pronunciation: Fee-lix
- Namesakes: Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian daredevil, BASE jumper, and skydiver, known for his Red Bull Stratos project stunt, jumping from a helium balloon in the stratosphere and landing in New Mexico.
- Popularity: Felix ranked #175 in the U.S. in 2025 with 2,064 boys, up 92 percent on the previous decade and close to its record 2024 birth count. Beliebte-vornamen.de placed it 10th in Germany for 2025.
Ferdinand
Ferdinand comes from Germanic elements usually read as journey and brave, and it reached Spain with the Visigoths before Spanish and German royalty spent five centuries trading it back and forth. Ferdinand Magellan set out on the first circumnavigation with it. Munro Leaf then gave it to a bull who preferred flowers to bullfighting, and that book has quietly defused the name’s grandeur for every American child since 1936.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Bold voyager
- Pronunciation: Fehr-dee-nand
- Namesakes: Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, credited with the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe.
- Popularity: Ferdinand ranked #4,294 in the U.S. in 2025 with 24 boys, a modest rise on the previous decade. It peaked in 1914 and last ranked well at #320 that year.
Florian
Florian comes from the Latin florus, meaning flowering, which makes it one of the very few flower-adjacent names that reads as unambiguously masculine. Saint Florian is the patron of firefighters, and in Austria and Bavaria fire stations still carry his image. The footballer Florian Wirtz has given it a young, current sound in Germany. Flo is the ready-made short form.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Flowering
- Pronunciation: Flor-ee-ahn
- Namesakes: Florian Wirtz, a German professional soccer player who plays for the national team.
- Popularity: Florian ranked #2,495 in the U.S. in 2025 with 54 boys, up 97 percent on the previous decade. It has been in the federal data since 1886 but has never been common here.
Frank
Frank names the Germanic tribe that gave France its name, and the tribal name itself is usually traced to a word for free. The Franks settled across what is now France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the 3rd and 4th centuries, and Charlemagne was their most consequential king. Frank Sinatra owns the name in American ears. Its long slide has been remarkably steady, from #9 in 1913 to #514 in 2025, and that gives it a plainness other vintage names have lost.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Free-man
- Pronunciation: FRANGK
- Variations: Franz
- Namesakes: Frank Sinatra, an American singer, affectionately known as old blue eyes. Frank Lampard, a former British soccer player and team manager.
- Popularity: Frank ranked #514 in the U.S. in 2025 with 584 boys, down 27 percent on the previous decade. It was a top-10 name in 1913 and has been given to more than 915,000 American boys since 1880.
Friedrich
Friedrich joins the Old German elements for peace and ruler, and it comes with serious intellectual freight, from Nietzsche and Schiller to Engels and Hayek. Frederick the Great made it Prussian shorthand for the state itself. The German nickname is Fritz, which is a completely different name to grow into. This is one to pick deliberately, because your son will spend his life being asked about at least one of those men.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Peaceful ruler
- Pronunciation: Free-drikh
- Variations: Fritz
- Namesakes: Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher credited for exerting a profound influence on modern intellectualism.
- Popularity: Friedrich ranked #3,788 in the U.S. in 2025 with 29 boys, its highest birth count on record and up 92 percent on the previous decade.
Georg
Georg is the German form of George, from the Greek georgos, a farmer or worker of the earth. Saint George and his dragon travel with it everywhere. The German pronunciation is a single syllable and a half, GEH-awrk, which is the whole difference between this and the English version and also the reason it will be spelled back to you as George for the rest of your son’s life. Georg Cantor and Georg Buechner are the bearers worth knowing. Choose it if you want George with an edge, and be ready to correct people.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Farmer
- Pronunciation: GEH-awrk
- Popularity: Georg last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2022, with six boys. Fewer than 500 American boys have ever been recorded with the spelling.
Gerhard
Gerhard is the German form of Gerald, from the elements for spear and hardy or brave. Gerhard Richter has spent sixty years making it the most famous first name in contemporary German painting, and Gerhard Schroeder took it to the chancellery. Gerry and Hardy both work in English, and the German short form is Gerd.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Brave with the spear
- Pronunciation: gair-hard
- Popularity: Gerhard last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2020, with five boys. Its best American rank was #764 in 1913.
Gilbert
Gilbert comes from the Old German elements for pledge and bright, and the Normans carried it to England, where it produced Saint Gilbert of Sempringham and a great many surnames. Gil and Bert are both there as short forms if the full name feels long. Gilbert Blythe of Anne of Green Gables is the reason a lot of readers feel warmly about it.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Shining pledge
- Pronunciation: Gil-behrt
- Namesakes: Gilbert Burns, a Brazilian MMA fighter and grappler, who is a three-time World Champion.
- Popularity: Gilbert ranked #1,330 in the U.S. in 2025 with 145 boys, down 30 percent on the previous decade. It reached #90 in 1930 with 2,119 births.
Gunter
Gunter, more usually Guenther in Germany, comes from the elements for battle and army or warrior. Gunther is a king in the Nibelungenlied and turns up again in Wagner’s Ring, which is heavier baggage than most names carry. Guenter Grass won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. English speakers of a certain age will think of the coffee-shop Gunther on Friends first, and that is a hard association to outrun. Guenther is the fuller German spelling and the one you will meet in Germany itself. Both are rare enough here that either choice makes your son the only one.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Bold warrior
- Pronunciation: Gun-ther
- Variations: Gunther
- Namesakes: Gunter Grass, a German poet, novelist, playwright, sculptor, and illustrator who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
- Popularity: Gunter ranked #10,041 in the U.S. in 2025 with seven boys, and only about 400 American boys have ever carried the spelling.
Gustav
Gustav is usually read as staff of the Goths, though the Old Norse origin is genuinely uncertain and no reference will tell you otherwise with a straight face. Six Swedish kings have borne it, and Gustav Mahler and Gustav Klimt between them account for most of its cultural weight. Gus is the nickname, and it does most of the work in English. The name suits a boy you expect to be quietly stubborn.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Staff of the Goths
- Pronunciation: Gus-taf
- Popularity: Gustav ranked #3,686 in the U.S. in 2025 with 30 boys, up 31 percent on the previous decade. Its best American rank was #515, set back in 1913.
Hans
Hans is the German short form of Johannes, from the Hebrew for God is gracious, and it has been the default German everyman name for so long that Hansel, Hanswurst and Hans im Glueck are all built on it. Hansi is the German pet form if you want one, though the name is short enough that most families never reach for it. Hans Zimmer scores half of Hollywood with it. The Frozen villain gave a generation of American children a different first association, which may or may not matter to you.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: God is gracious
- Pronunciation: Han-z
- Namesakes: Hans Zimmer, a German film score composer, known for the soundtracks on Gladiator and Interstellar.
- Popularity: Hans ranked #1,325 in the U.S. in 2025 with 146 boys, up 36 percent on the previous decade. Its best American rank was #464 in 1967.
Harald
Harald is the German and Scandinavian form of Harold, from elements meaning army and ruler. Harald Bluetooth united Denmark and Norway in the 10th century and lent his initials to the wireless standard in your pocket, which is a strange second life for a 10th-century king’s name. Hal and Harry both survive the switch to the German spelling.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Army ruler
- Pronunciation: Ha-ralt
- Popularity: Harald ranked #5,953 in the U.S. in 2025 with 15 boys, up 81 percent on the previous decade from a very small base. Fewer than 900 American boys have ever been recorded with it.
Heinrich
Heinrich is the German form of Henry, from elements meaning home or estate and ruler, and Heinz and Heino are the German short forms, with Harry not far away either. Seven German kings carried it, six of them crowned Holy Roman Emperor, and Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of electromagnetic waves with it, which is why radio frequency is measured in hertz. The federal data has no record of the name in American use before 1956, and the reason is not hard to guess, so that history is part of the decision.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Estate ruler
- Pronunciation: Hine-rick
- Variations: Heinz
- Namesakes: Heinrich Hertz, a German Physicist, best known for proving the existence of electromagnetic waves.
- Popularity: Heinrich ranked #4,768 in the U.S. in 2025 with 21 boys, up 38 percent on the previous decade. It did not enter the federal data until 1956.
Helmut
Helmut joins the Old German elements for helmet or protection and mind or spirit, so the sense is closer to a courageous temperament than to armor. Two German chancellors, Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl, defined the name for the second half of the last century, and Helmut Newton defined it for photography. It is thoroughly German and almost entirely absent from American records, which is either the appeal or the problem.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Brave protector
- Pronunciation: Hel-mutt
- Namesakes: Helmut Marko, an Austrian pro racing driver and head of the Red Bull driver development program.
- Popularity: Helmut has not appeared in the U.S. federal name data since 1978, when five boys were given the name. Fewer than 500 American boys have ever been recorded with it.
Henry
Henry descends from the Germanic Heimrich, home ruler, by way of the German Heinrich. Eight English kings and a long line of German princes have carried it, and Prince Harry’s legal name is Henry. At #5 in the United States and 10th in Germany it is the highest-ranked name on this list that also sits inside a German top ten. If you want German roots with no friction in an English-speaking country, start here.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Home ruler
- Pronunciation: Hen-ree
- Variations: Henri
- Namesakes: Henry Cavill, a British actor known for playing Superman and Geralt in the Witcher television series.
- Popularity: Henry hit its highest rank ever in 2025 at #5 in the U.S., with 12,020 boys, up 69 percent on the previous decade. Germany agrees: the GfdS placed Henry and Henri jointly 10th nationally for 2025.
Herbert
Herbert comes from the Old German elements for army and bright, and it replaced the Old English Herebeorht after the Normans brought the continental form across. Bert and Bertie are sitting unused inside it, which gives Herbert the formal-name-plus-cute-nickname shape with nobody else competing for the short form. Its American peak lines up almost exactly with Herbert Hoover’s rise, and its collapse lines up with what came next.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Bright army
- Pronunciation: Her-bert
- Namesakes: Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States.
- Popularity: Herbert ranked #2,656 in the U.S. in 2025 with 49 boys, down 23 percent on the previous decade. It was a top-25 name in 1928 and peaked at 7,881 births in 1929.
Hermann
Hermann joins the elements for army and man, and it is the German name attached to Arminius, the chieftain who destroyed three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9. The Hermannsdenkmal still stands over the site. Hermann Hesse wrote Steppenwolf and Siddhartha under it. The double n is the German spelling and the one that has essentially vanished from American records over the past century. Herman with one n is the American form, and it is a good deal easier to get right over the phone.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Warrior
- Pronunciation: Her-man
- Namesakes: Hermann Hesse, a German-Swiss novelist, and poet best known for Steppenwolf.
- Popularity: Hermann last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2024, with six boys. Its best American rank was #1,344 in 1913.
Horst
Horst is the German word for a thicket or a bird of prey’s eyrie, and it is a rare case of a name that is simply a piece of landscape. Horst Koehler served as president of Germany from 2004 to 2010. In English the name is short, hard and unfamiliar, which is either its strength or the reason to put it in the middle slot.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Wood thicket
- Pronunciation: HAWRST
- Namesakes: Horst Kohler, a German politician who was President of Germany between 2004 and 2010.
- Popularity: Horst has not appeared in the U.S. federal name data since 1968, and only 83 American boys have ever been recorded with it.
Hubert
Hubert comes from the Old German elements hug, meaning heart or mind, and beraht, meaning bright. Saint Hubert is the patron of hunters, and the stag with a cross in its antlers on a bottle of Jaegermeister is his. Hubert Humphrey carried it into American politics. Hubie and Bertie are both waiting inside it, and the name is a good deal warmer than its four consonants suggest.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Bright heart
- Pronunciation: Hoo-behrt
- Popularity: Hubert ranked #3,400 in the U.S. in 2025 with 34 boys, down 22 percent on the previous decade. It was a top-115 name in 1913 and peaked at 1,348 births in 1916.
Jakob
Jakob is the German spelling of Jacob, through Latin Iacobus from the Hebrew Ya’aqov, the patriarch whose twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. The Brothers Grimm were Jacob and Wilhelm, and the elder brother’s linguistic work is why we have Grimm’s law. This spelling rose and fell with the English one and has now dropped further than any other name here, which means it is a good deal less common than it feels. Jake works exactly as it always did.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Supplanter
- Pronunciation: Jay-kob
- Popularity: Jakob ranked #1,372 in the U.S. in 2025 with 135 boys, down 66 percent on the previous decade, the steepest fall of any name on this list. It peaked in 2001 at #172 alongside the Jacob boom.
Jan
Jan is the German, Dutch, Polish and Czech form of John, from the Hebrew for God is gracious. It is pronounced YAHN, not like the English woman’s name, and that gap is the one thing to think through before choosing it in an English-speaking country. Jan van Eyck, Jan Vermeer and Jan Hus are three very good reasons the name is worth the trouble. Janek and Jancsi are the Polish and Hungarian pet forms if you want something longer to fall back on.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: God is gracious
- Pronunciation: Yan
- Popularity: Jan ranked #2,731 in the U.S. in 2025 with 47 boys, down 50 percent on the previous decade. Its American peak was 1944, when it reached #247 with 544 births.
Jasper
Jasper is the English and Dutch form of Caspar, traditionally the name of one of the three magi, and the same name gives us the German Kaspar. Jasper is also a stone, one of the twelve in the foundations described in Revelation. Twilight’s Jasper Hale drove a chunk of its recent rise, but the name was climbing before that and has kept climbing since.
- Origin: English and Dutch
- Meaning: Bringer of treasure
- Pronunciation: YAHS-per
- Namesakes: Jasper Conran, a British designer best known for his home collections.
- Popularity: Jasper ranked #129 in the U.S. in 2025 with 2,804 boys, up 151 percent on the previous decade. Its best rank was #122 in 2023, its strongest showing in nearly 150 years of records.
Jonas
Jonas is the German and Greek form of Jonah, from the Hebrew word for dove, and the prophet in the fish is one of the few Bible stories every child knows the shape of. The dove meaning is the reason it turns up on peace-name lists. Jonas Salk gave the world the polio vaccine and refused to patent it. The band moment has passed, and the name has settled at a comfortable level rather than crashing, which is what usually happens.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Dove
- Pronunciation: Jo-nass
- Popularity: Jonas ranked #599 in the U.S. in 2025 with 476 boys, roughly flat over the previous decade. Its best rank was #274 in 2008, at the height of a certain band’s fame.
Jörg
Jörg, spelled Joerg once the umlaut goes through American paperwork, is the German short form of Georg, so it carries the same farmer or earth-worker meaning and the same Saint George behind it. The pronunciation is the whole story: roughly YURK, one syllable, with a vowel English has no letter for. Jörg Immendorff painted under it and Jörg Haider made it politically loud in Austria. Which spelling goes on the birth certificate is worth deciding before rather than after.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Farmer
- Pronunciation: YURK
- Variations: Jurgen
- Popularity: Jörg does not appear in the U.S. federal name data, which lists only names given to at least five boys in a year. It has no American ranking on record.
Josef
Josef is the German and Czech spelling of Joseph, from the Hebrew name Yosef, meaning he will add, and it brings Joe, Josie and the German Sepp with it, the last a genuinely different name to grow into. Joseph is the carpenter of the nativity and, before him, the dreamer sold by his brothers, so the name arrives with two of the best stories in the book. Swapping the ph for an f costs nothing in sound and marks it as continental.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Jehovah increases
- Pronunciation: YO-zehf
- Popularity: Josef ranked #2,860 in the U.S. in 2025 with 44 boys, down 41 percent on the previous decade. Its strongest years were the late 1990s, when it peaked at 220 births in 1999.
Karl
Karl is the German form of Charles, from an Old German word meaning free man, and Charlemagne is Karl der Grosse to every German schoolchild. Karl Marx, Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Benz cover economics, fashion and the car between them. Four letters and one syllable make it a strong name that never needs shortening, which is unusual on a list this full of three-syllable Germanic compounds. It is the obvious choice for honoring a Charles without repeating him.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Free man
- Pronunciation: Ka-hrl
- Namesakes: Karl Lagerfeld, a German fashion designer best known for being the driving force of the Chanel revival.
- Popularity: Karl ranked #1,593 in the U.S. in 2025 with 107 boys, down 29 percent on the previous decade. It peaked in 1963 with 2,513 births and reached #135 in 1960.
Kaspar
Kaspar is the German form of Caspar, traditionally one of the three magi and, through a Persian root, read as treasurer or keeper of the treasure. Kasper with an e is the Danish and Polish spelling, and Cas works as a short form for any of them. It is the same name as Jasper by a different route, which is a useful thing to know if one spelling feels too popular. Kaspar Hauser, the boy who appeared in Nuremberg in 1828 with no history, is the name’s strangest association. English speakers say it without hesitation, and with eight American boys given it in 2025, your son will almost certainly be the only one he meets.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Keeper of treasure
- Pronunciation: Kass-pahr
- Popularity: Kaspar ranked #9,312 in the U.S. in 2025 with eight boys. It did not enter the federal data until 2000, and fewer than 200 American boys have ever carried it.
Kay
Kay in German is a northern short form usually traced to Kai, and it is a boy’s name there without qualification. In English the same three letters read as a short form of Katherine, so an American Kay will spend his life clarifying, which is the single thing to weigh before choosing it. Sir Kay, King Arthur’s foster brother, is the English precedent for the masculine reading, and Agent K of Men in Black is the modern one. Short, unisex and quietly confident: it works best on a family that will not mind explaining.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Rejoicing
- Pronunciation: Kay
- Popularity: Kay was given to 10 American boys in 2025, ranking #7,951 among boys. The name’s 1939 peak of 3,260 births was overwhelmingly girls, and the boys’ reading has always been the rarer one here.
Leon
Leon comes from the Greek leon, lion, and it is the root of Leonard, Leonardo and the papal Leo. Leon Battista Alberti and Leon Trotsky are the historical bearers; Leon Bridges is the current one. It is a little less used than Leo and gives you Leo anyway.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Lion
- Pronunciation: Lee-on
- Namesakes: Leon Rippy, an American actor with a career spanning almost four decades, best known for his role in Deadwood and The Patriot.
- Popularity: Leon ranked #138 in the U.S. in 2025 with 2,583 boys, up 193 percent on the previous decade. In Germany it is far bigger: the GfdS ranked it 6th nationally for 2025 and beliebte-vornamen.de 8th.
Leopold
Leopold joins the Old German elements for people and bold, and the lion in the first syllable is a later reshaping rather than the original sense. Saint Leopold III is the patron of Austria, Leopold Mozart taught his son, and Leopold Bloom walks through Dublin for the whole of Ulysses. It is an L name with real ceremony, and Leo is the escape hatch on any given Tuesday. Three kings of Belgium carried it, and the second of those is the reason some families will not.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Brave people
- Pronunciation: Leo-pold
- Namesakes: King Leopold of Belgium who ruled between 1865 and 1909.
- Popularity: Leopold ranked #2,001 in the U.S. in 2025 with 76 boys, up 87 percent on the previous decade. It has been in the federal data since 1880 and peaked in 1916.
Louis
Louis is the French form of the Frankish Chlodovech, the same name as Ludwig and Clovis, from elements meaning famous and warrior. Eighteen kings of France carried it, and Ludwig van Beethoven and Louis Armstrong sit at either end of its musical range. The French LOO-ee and the American LOO-iss are both correct and both in daily use, so pick one early and hold it.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Renowned warrior
- Pronunciation: Loo-ee
- Variations: Luis
- Namesakes: Louis Theroux, a British-American journalist, documentary filmmaker, and broadcaster, best known for his documentaries on Scientology, dementia, and alcoholism.
- Popularity: Louis ranked #249 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,391 boys, up 52 percent on the previous decade. It was a top-20 name in 1913 and has been given to more than 400,000 American boys.
Luca
Luca is the Italian form of Luke, from a Latin name usually read as belonging to Lucania or, more loosely, tied to light. It is one of the very few names that is currently top-15 in the United States and top-10 in Germany at the same time, so it works on both sides without adjustment. It is also softer and less biblical-sounding than Lucas, which is the usual reason parents choose it.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: Light
- Pronunciation: Loo-kah
- Variations: Luka, Lukas
- Popularity: Luca hit its highest rank ever in 2025 at #14 in the U.S. with 8,759 boys, up 321 percent on the previous decade. Germany ranks it just as high: the GfdS put Luca and Luka jointly 9th nationally for 2025, and beliebte-vornamen.de put it 6th.
Manfred
Manfred joins the Old German elements for strength and peace, so the sense is closer to strong peace than to man of peace. Fred and Manny both come out of it easily, and Manny in particular gives the name a much lighter step. Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, is the bearer everyone knows, which sits oddly against the meaning. Byron wrote a dramatic poem called Manfred and Schumann set it to music.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Man of peace
- Pronunciation: Man-fred
- Namesakes: Manfred Mann, a British keyboard player and namesake of his 1960s rock band, Manfred Mann.
- Popularity: Manfred last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2022, with six boys. Its best American rank was #1,157 in 1936.
Marcel
Marcel is the French form of the Roman Marcellus, a diminutive of Marcus, so the literal reading is something like little Mars. Marcel Proust spent seven volumes on memory with it, Marcel Duchamp put a urinal in a gallery, and Marcel Marceau said nothing at all for sixty years. It is a warrior name that has spent the last century attached almost exclusively to artists.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Little warrior
- Pronunciation: Mar-sell
- Namesakes: Marcel Proust, a French novelist considered one of the 20th-century’s most influential authors.
- Popularity: Marcel ranked #731 in the U.S. in 2025 with 364 boys, up 52 percent on the previous decade, with its peak birth year as recent as 2022.
Markus
Markus is the German spelling of Mark, from the Roman Marcus, which is generally traced to Mars and so carries a warlike sense the gospel writer never asked for. Saint Mark wrote the shortest and earliest of the four gospels and is the patron of Venice, where his lion is on everything. The k spelling is the German one; Marcus is the Latin form English speakers default to. Mark, Marky and the German Markie are all in reach. The name also travels unchanged through Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Estonia, which few of the compounds on this list manage. If you want one spelling that works in six countries, this is it.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Warlike
- Pronunciation: Marr-kus
- Variations: Marcus
- Namesakes: Markus Schulz, a German DJ based in Miami, Florida, best known for his radio show, Global DJ Broadcast.
- Popularity: Markus ranked #1,336 in the U.S. in 2025 with 144 boys, down 39 percent on the previous decade. Its best rank was #495 in 1990.
Martin
Martin comes from the Roman Martinus, built on Mars, so it is a name about war that has been carried almost exclusively by peacemakers. Saint Martin of Tours cut his cloak in half for a beggar and is patron saint of France; Martin Luther nailed his theses to a church door in Wittenberg; Martin Luther King Jr. was named for him. Germany celebrates Martinstag every 11 November with lanterns and a goose. It still sits inside the U.S. top 350 today, well below its 1963 peak but roughly flat over the past ten years.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: War-like
- Pronunciation: MAHR-teen
- Namesakes: Martin Sheen, an American actor with a career spanning 65 years, best known for Apocalypse Now and as the President in The West Wing television show.
- Popularity: Martin ranked #335 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,009 boys, roughly flat over the previous decade. It peaked in 1963 with 6,073 births, which was also its best American rank at #62.
Matteo
Matteo is the Italian form of Matthew, from the Hebrew Mattityahu, gift of God. It is on a German list because German parents have made it theirs: only Noah outranks it nationally, and the spellings Matteo, Mateo, Matheo and Mattheo are all in circulation there. That is a genuinely different picture from the United States, where it sits at #146, nowhere near the top of the chart. Matt and Teo both work, and Teo is the one you will hear in Germany. Mateo and Matthias are the near neighbors worth comparing.
- Origin: Italian
- Meaning: Gift of God
- Pronunciation: Matt-ah-oh
- Variations: Mateo, Matthias
- Popularity: Matteo ranked #146 in the U.S. in 2025 with 2,455 boys, up 224 percent on the previous decade. In Germany it is the second most popular boys’ name of 2025 on both the GfdS list and the beliebte-vornamen.de ranking, counting its several spellings together.
Maximillian
Maximilian was coined by Emperor Frederick III for his son, blending the Roman names Maximus and Aemilianus, so it is one of the few names on this list with a known inventor and a known date. Two Holy Roman Emperors and a Mexican emperor carried it. Saint Maximilian Kolbe took another prisoner’s place at Auschwitz. It is long, formal and slightly grand, which is exactly why the nicknames matter: Max does almost all the work, and Maxi and Maxl are there too.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Greatest
- Pronunciation: Max-ee-mill-ee-ahn
- Popularity: Maximillian with the double l ranked #1,845 in the U.S. in 2025 with 86 boys, down 43 percent on the previous decade. Maximilian with one l is the standard German spelling.
Michael
Michael is Hebrew for who is like God, phrased as a challenge rather than a description, and it belongs to the archangel who leads the heavenly host. He is recognized in Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike, and Mike, Micha and Michi cover the English and German short forms between them. Germany has used Michael as heavily as America has, which is why it earns a place here despite feeling entirely domestic.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Who is like God
- Pronunciation: Mike-all
- Namesakes: Michael Sheen, a Welsh actor best known for the Underworld movie series.
- Popularity: Michael ranked #21 in the U.S. in 2025 with 8,094 boys, down 38 percent on the previous decade but still inside the top 25. It was the number one boys’ name in 1954 and has been given to more than 4.4 million American boys since records began in 1880.
Milan
Milan comes from the Slavic element milu, meaning gracious or dear, and started life as a short form of longer names built on it. Reference works list it as Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene and Macedonian, with modern use in German, Dutch, Polish and French, which is how it lands on a German list. The Italian city is a separate word entirely, from the Latin Mediolanum, though the overlap has certainly helped the name along. Milan Kundera is its best-known bearer, and the name is unisex in current American use.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: Gracious, dear
- Pronunciation: Mill-ahn
- Popularity: Milan ranked #242 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,418 boys, up 259 percent on the previous decade, with its peak birth year in 2024.
Niklas
Niklas is the German and Scandinavian form of Nicholas, from the Greek for victory of the people. Saint Nicholas of Myra is the patron of children and sailors and the ancestor of Santa Claus, which gives the name an unusually warm reputation for something that means winning. Niklas Luhmann built an entire theory of society under it. Nick works exactly as it does with the English spelling, and Klas is the northern German alternative. Nikolaus is the full German form, and Germany still marks his feast day on 6 December by leaving boots out overnight.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: One who leads to victory
- Pronunciation: Nick-lass
- Variations: Niclas
- Popularity: Niklas ranked #8,060 in the U.S. in 2025 with ten boys, down 65 percent on the previous decade. Its American high point was 90 births in 2000.
Nils
Nils is the Scandinavian short form of Nicholas, thoroughly naturalized in northern Germany the way Bjorn and Torsten are. Selma Lagerloef sent a boy called Nils across Sweden on the back of a goose, a few years before she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The footballer Nils Petersen kept it current in German sport. It is one of the easier northern names for an English-speaking family to carry, and Niels is the Danish spelling if you prefer that route.
- Origin: Scandinavian
- Meaning: Victory of the people
- Pronunciation: NILS
- Namesakes: Nils Petersen, a German soccer player, and the first German football player to score five goals with the national team in a single game.
- Popularity: Nils ranked #4,993 in the U.S. in 2025 with 20 boys, roughly flat over the previous decade. It has been in the federal data since 1888 and peaked at 40 births in 1934.
Norman
Norman comes from the Germanic word for a northman, the term Frankish speakers used for the Scandinavian raiders who settled the coast that became Normandy. Those settlers then invaded England in 1066 and reshaped the language you are reading. Norman Rockwell, Norman Mailer and Norman Reedus carry it in very different registers. It is a name about migration and mixture, which suits a family with roots in more than one country.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Northman
- Pronunciation: Norr-man
- Namesakes: Norman Reedus, an American actor best known for the television show The Walking Dead and The Boondock Saints movies.
- Popularity: Norman ranked #1,200 in the U.S. in 2025 with 169 boys, roughly flat over the previous decade. It was a top-40 name in 1931, when 5,426 boys were given it.
Oliver
Oliver has two competing origins that scholars have never fully separated: the Latin oliva, olive tree, and a Germanic name along the lines of Alfihar, elf army. Oliver is Roland’s companion in the Chanson de Roland, Dickens’s orphan, and Oliver Queen in the Arrow comics. It has been top-five in the United States for years now, so choose it knowing your son will not be the only Oliver in the room.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Olive tree
- Pronunciation: Oh-live-err
- Namesakes: Oliver Reed, a British actor with a career spanning over 45 years, best known for movies Gladiator and Castaway.
- Popularity: Oliver ranked #3 in the U.S. in 2025 with 14,939 boys, the highest-ranked name on this entire list and up 172 percent on the previous decade.
Oskar
Oskar is the German and Scandinavian spelling of Oscar, whose origin is genuinely contested: an Old English Osgar, god spear, and an Irish name from Gaelic legend where Oscar is the grandson of Fionn mac Cumhaill. Guenter Grass gave the German spelling its defining bearer in Oskar Matzerath of The Tin Drum, and Oskar Schindler gave it another. The k keeps the sound identical and quietly signals which side of the North Sea you mean.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Deer friend
- Pronunciation: OS-kar
- Variations: Oscar
- Popularity: Oskar ranked #1,750 in the U.S. in 2025 with 93 boys, roughly flat over the previous decade. Its peak birth year was 2016, when 160 boys were given the spelling.
Otto
Otto is the later German form of Audo, a short form of names built on Old Frankish aud or Old High German ot, meaning wealth or fortune. Otto I was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 962 and is remembered as Otto the Great; Otto von Bismarck built the modern German state a thousand years later. The name is a palindrome, which children notice and enjoy. Its American low point came in 1984, and it has come back further than any other name here.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Wealth, fortune
- Pronunciation: AW-toh
- Popularity: Otto ranked #277 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,241 boys, up 294 percent on the previous decade. Its comeback is the most complete on this list: it fell from a 1913 peak to a low point in 1984 and has since climbed back to about 29 times that trough rate, 112 years after its high.
Patrick
Patrick comes from the Latin patricius, a nobleman, and it is an Irish name only by adoption: the saint was a Romano-British teenager taken to Ireland as a slave. Its Latin roots are why it settled comfortably into German, French and Scandinavian use as well. Patrick Suesskind wrote Perfume with it. It is a good middle ground if you want a name that reads as European rather than as belonging to any one country.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Noble
- Pronunciation: PA-trik
- Namesakes: Patrick Swayze, an American actor best known for the movies Dirty Dancing and Ghost.
- Popularity: Patrick ranked #235 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,495 boys, down 33 percent on the previous decade. It peaked in 1968 with 13,062 births and reached #30 in 1964.
Paul
Paul is the Latin paulus, meaning small or humble, and the apostle chose it in place of Saul after his conversion on the road to Damascus. Six popes and a long line of saints followed. The interesting number here is the mismatch: Paul is a genuine top-10 name in Germany right now and a quietly declining one in the United States, so it sounds current in Hamburg and slightly retro in Houston. Paul Klee and Paul Celan are the German bearers worth knowing. One syllable, no nickname needed, no spelling required.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Humble
- Pronunciation: POWL
- Namesakes: Paul Thomas Anderson, an American filmmaker, best known for Magnolia and There Will Be Blood.
- Popularity: Paul ranked #262 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,316 boys, down 28 percent on the previous decade. It is a far bigger name in Germany, where the GfdS placed it 8th nationally for 2025 and beliebte-vornamen.de 7th.
Peter
Peter is the Greek petros, a stone, the name Jesus gave Simon when he called him the rock on which the church would be built. Germany has used it as steadily as England has, and Peter der Grosse, Peter Paul Rubens and Peter Handke all sit under it. Children meet it first through Peter Pan and Peter Rabbit, which keeps a rather solemn name light. Its US ranking has barely moved over the past decade, so it sits about where it has sat for years.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Stone
- Pronunciation: PEH-tu
- Namesakes: Peter Dinklage, an American actor best known for playing Tyrion Lannister in the television series Game of Thrones.
- Popularity: Peter ranked #187 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,954 boys, essentially flat over the previous decade. It reached #35 in 1955 and peaked in 1957 with 11,603 births.
Philipp
Philipp is the German spelling of Philip, from the Greek philippos, a lover of horses, and it belonged to one of the twelve apostles and to Philip II of Macedon, Alexander’s father. Landgrave Philipp of Hesse made it a fixture of German princely families. The doubled p is the only visible difference and is the thing your son will correct on every form. For a family that rides, the meaning is hard to beat, and Phil survives the crossing intact.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Lover of horses
- Pronunciation: FEE-lip
- Popularity: Philipp with the double p ranked #13,403 in the U.S. in 2025 with five boys, and fewer than 1,000 American boys have ever carried the spelling. Philip with one p is the standard English spelling.
Rainer
Rainer is the German form of Rayner, from Old German elements usually read as counsel and army. Rainer Maria Rilke wrote the Duino Elegies under it and is probably the most quoted German-language poet of the last century, so the name arrives with a particular kind of seriousness. Rainer Werner Fassbinder made forty films in fourteen years with it. English speakers hear RAIN-er and often assume weather, which is a soft association for a name that means nothing of the sort.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Wise army
- Pronunciation: Rain-err
- Namesakes: Rainer Maria Rilke, an Austrian novelist, and poet, considered one of the most intense German-language poets.
- Popularity: Rainer ranked #3,429 in the U.S. in 2025 with 34 boys, up 94 percent on the previous decade. Its peak birth year was 2021, and it did not enter the federal data until 1955.
Randall
Randall comes from the medieval Randel, a form of Randolf, built on Germanic elements for rim or shield and wolf. It reached English as a surname first and only later came back as a given name, which is why it sounds more American than German. Randall Park and Randall Flagg of The Stand are the two poles of its modern reputation. Randy is the inevitable short form, and it carries its own baggage worth thinking about. Rand is the cleaner alternative if Randy is not the direction you want.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Shield wolf
- Pronunciation: Ran-dahl
- Namesakes: Randall Park, an American actor best known for the movie Always Be My Maybe.
- Popularity: Randall ranked #1,506 in the U.S. in 2025 with 117 boys, down 33 percent on the previous decade. It was a top-55 name in 1955 and peaked in 1960 with 7,174 births.
Reinhardt
Reinhardt joins the Old German elements for counsel and hardy, and it is the ancestor of Reynard, the trickster fox of medieval French and German fable. Django Reinhardt made the surname famous in jazz with two working fingers on his fretting hand. The spelling with dt is the heaviest of several, and Reinhard, Reinhart and Rein are all lighter options. Choose it if you want an unmistakably old German name that only a handful of American boys a year receive.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Brave counsel
- Pronunciation: Rein-hart
- Popularity: Reinhardt ranked #8,103 in the U.S. in 2025 with ten boys. Fewer than 300 American boys have ever been recorded with this spelling since 1912.
Roderick
Roderick comes from the Old German hrod, fame, and ric, power or rule, giving the standard reading of famous ruler. The Visigoths carried it into Spain, where the last Visigothic king, Roderic, lost the peninsula to the Umayyads in 711. Poe used it for the doomed Roderick Usher, and Roddy McDowall made it a Hollywood name.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Famous ruler
- Pronunciation: Rod-er-rik
- Namesakes: Roderick McDowall, an American actor known as Roddy McDowall, best known for the Planet of the Apes movies.
- Popularity: Roderick ranked #1,752 in the U.S. in 2025 with 93 boys, down 40 percent on the previous decade. It peaked in 1971 with 1,057 births and reached #221 in 1967.
Rolf
Rolf is a contracted form of Rudolf, from elements meaning fame and wolf, and it is the same name as the Norse Hrolfr. Rollo, the Viking who took Normandy in 911 and whose descendant conquered England, was a Hrolfr. Rolf Harris damaged the name’s reputation in Britain and Australia, which is worth knowing if your family has ties there. Rudolf, Rudolph and Rolfe are the longer relatives if the short form feels too abrupt.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Famous wolf
- Pronunciation: Rawlf
- Popularity: Rolf ranked #13,496 in the U.S. in 2025 with five boys, roughly one in every 333,000 born. That makes it the rarest of the names on this list that the federal data still ranks.
Stefan
Stefan is the German and Slavic form of Stephen, from the Greek stephanos, a crown or garland. Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr and is patron saint of stonemasons, and 26 December is his feast day across Europe. Stefan Zweig wrote his memoir of pre-war Europe under it. The f spelling is the continental one and quietly sidesteps the Stephen-or-Steven question that the English forms force on you. Steve is still there if he wants it.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Garland crown
- Pronunciation: Stef-ahn
- Variations: Stephan
- Popularity: Stefan ranked #1,023 in the U.S. in 2025 with 219 boys, up 19 percent on the previous decade. It peaked in 1991 with 719 births.
Theo
Theo began as a short form of Theodore and of the older Germanic Theodoric, and it has been a name in its own right for well over a century. Vincent van Gogh’s brother Theo kept him painting and is the reason the letters survive. Andrea-Eva Ewels of the Gesellschaft fuer deutsche Sprache said: “The rise of Theo and Leo shows that short, distinctive names are particularly in demand among many parents,” in a translation from the German. Theodore sits on the birth certificate if you want the option, though Theo has not needed it for a long time.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Gift of God
- Pronunciation: TEH-o
- Namesakes: Theo James, a British actor best known for the Divergent movie series.
- Popularity: Theo is the fastest-rising name on this list by a wide margin: births are up 834 percent over the last ten years compared with the ten before, and it ranked #82 in the U.S. in 2025 with 3,945 boys. Germany got there first, placing Theo 3rd nationally on the 2025 GfdS list and 4th on beliebte-vornamen.de.
Thomas
Thomas is Aramaic for twin, which makes it the obvious pick if you are expecting two. The apostle who refused to believe without evidence gave English the phrase doubting Thomas, and Thomas Mann, Thomas Aquinas and Thomas Jefferson give the name a broad historical spread. Tom, Tommy and the German Tomi are all there, and Tom belongs to about a third of Hollywood. What sets Thomas apart from most of this list is how little it moves, down 2 percent on the previous decade, with more than 2.3 million American boys carrying it already.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Twin
- Pronunciation: TO-mas
- Namesakes: Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States.
- Popularity: Thomas ranked #34 in the U.S. in 2025 with 6,917 boys, barely moved over the previous decade. It reached #8 in 1936, peaked in 1951 with 48,275 births, and has been given to more than 2.3 million American boys.
Tilman
Tilman began as a German form of Dietmar or a derivative of Til, itself short for names built on the people element that also gives us Dietrich. Till is the ready nickname, with Till Eulenspiegel supplying the mischief. Tilman Riemenschneider carved limewood altarpieces in Wuerzburg around 1500 and is one of the great late-Gothic sculptors. The name is soft where most German compounds are hard.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: People’s ruler
- Pronunciation: Til-mahn
- Popularity: Tilman last appeared in the U.S. federal name data in 2023, with seven boys. Its best rank was #1,383 in 1914, and fewer than 1,000 American boys have ever carried it.
Tim
Tim is the short form of Timothy, from the Greek timao, to honor, and theos, God, so the Greek reads as honoring God. Germany uses Tim as a full given name rather than a nickname, which is the reason it appears here. Tim Burton and Tiny Tim cover the range. As a standalone name it has drifted a long way down the American charts while remaining instantly familiar, which is a rare and useful combination.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Honoring God
- Pronunciation: Timm
- Namesakes: Tim Burton, an American filmmaker, best known for Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
- Popularity: Tim ranked #3,230 in the U.S. in 2025 with 37 boys, down 18 percent on the previous decade. It was a top-60 name in 1959 and peaked in 1960 with 6,931 births.
Tobias
Tobias is the Greek form of the Hebrew Tobiah, God is good, and it belongs to the son in the Book of Tobit who travels with the archangel Raphael and comes home with a cure for his father’s blindness. That story gave European painters one of their favorite subjects for four centuries. Toby is the everyday form, and it sounds nothing like the full name, which some families count as a feature. The name is climbing steadily in the United States, up 133 percent on the previous decade, and it has been a German standard for far longer.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: God is good
- Pronunciation: Tob-i-as
- Namesakes: Tobias Menzies, a British actor best known for the television shows Outlander and The Crown.
- Popularity: Tobias ranked #283 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,201 boys, up 133 percent on the previous decade. Its best rank was #246 in 2016.
Torsten
Torsten joins the Old Norse Thorr, the thunder god, with steinn, a stone, and reference works list it as Swedish, Danish and German. Northern Germany adopted it the way it adopted Bjorn and Nils, which is how a Norse name lands on a German list. The footballer Torsten Frings carried it through two World Cups. If your interest in Thor comes from the sagas rather than the films, this is the version that predates both. Thorsten with an h is the alternative German spelling and looks more obviously Norse to an English reader. Torsten is the one Germany actually uses.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: Thor’s stone
- Pronunciation: TAWR-sten
- Namesakes: Torsten Frings, a German soccer player who played for numerous German teams and Toronto FC before going into management.
- Popularity: Torsten ranked #6,415 in the U.S. in 2025 with 14 boys, roughly flat over the previous decade. It first entered the federal data in 1962 and has never been common here.
Uwe
Uwe is a Frisian and northern German name usually traced back to Ove, which is itself linked to the Old Danish Aghi and the sword or edge element. In Germany it now reads as a distinctly generational name, rather like Gary in English. Uwe Seeler played 72 times for West Germany with it. Two syllables, OO-veh, and it is over before an English speaker expects it to be.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Sword
- Pronunciation: oo-veh
- Popularity: Uwe has not appeared in the U.S. federal name data since 1969, and only about 30 American boys have ever been recorded with it.
Walter
Walter comes from the Old German elements for rule and army, and the Normans carried the continental form into England, where it displaced the native Wealdhere. Walther von der Vogelweide is the great medieval German lyric poet, and Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus. Walt and Wally are both waiting inside it, neither of them crowded. Its American revival over the past decade is real and measurable, and Breaking Bad is only part of the story: Walter belongs to the same wave of recovered grandfather names as Otto and August.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Army ruler
- Pronunciation: Wal-tehr
- Popularity: Walter ranked #252 in the U.S. in 2025 with 1,381 boys, up 64 percent on the previous decade. It was a top-10 name in 1914, when 8,962 boys were given it.
Werner
Werner comes from the old Germanic Warinheri, joining a tribal name with the element for army. Werner Heisenberg formulated the uncertainty principle with it, and Werner Herzog has built a fifty-year filmography around people at the edge of their limits.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Protecting army
- Pronunciation: Vehr-ner
- Namesakes: Werner Heisenberg, a German physicist best known for his theory of quantum mechanics.
- Popularity: Werner ranked #8,214 in the U.S. in 2025 with ten boys, up 23 percent on the previous decade from a very small base. Its best American rank was #639 in 1930.
Wilhelm
Wilhelm is the German form of William, from the elements for will or desire and helmet or protection. Wilhelm Grimm collected the fairy tales with his brother Jakob, and Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-rays. The Wilhelm scream, that stock sound effect in hundreds of films, is named for a character in a 1953 western. It gives you every William nickname, Will and Willy included, plus the German Willi, and it is spelled the way it sounds. Kaiser Wilhelm II is the association that kept the name out of English-speaking use for a century, and that memory has faded a good deal since.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Resolute protector
- Pronunciation: vil-helm
- Popularity: Wilhelm ranked #4,133 in the U.S. in 2025 with 26 boys, up 20 percent on the previous decade. It has appeared in the federal data since 1880 but has never ranked well here.
Wolfgang
Wolfgang joins the elements for wolf and path or journey, and its births are up about 105 percent on the previous decade, though from a small base. It is a long name that ends in a hard consonant, which is exactly why Wolf and Wolfie both land so well. Mozart is the reason most people know it at all, Goethe’s first name was Johann Wolfgang, and Wolfgang Puck put it on restaurant menus.
- Origin: German
- Meaning: Traveling wolf
- Pronunciation: Wolf-gang
- Namesakes: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an Austrian composer whose music is still enjoyed today.
- Popularity: Wolfgang ranked #1,519 in the U.S. in 2025 with 115 boys, up 105 percent on the previous decade, with its peak birth year as recent as 2021.
Yannick
Yannick is a Breton diminutive of Yann, the Breton form of John, from the Hebrew for God is gracious, and German-speaking families picked it up from French through the second half of the last century, with Yanni as the natural short form. Yannick Noah won the French Open in 1983 and remains the last Frenchman to do so. The double n and the ck ending make it look harder than it sounds, and YAN-ick is all there is to it.
- Origin: Breton
- Meaning: God is gracious
- Pronunciation: Yan-nick
- Variations: Jannick
- Namesakes: Yannick Noah, a French tennis player who won the French Open in 1983.
- Popularity: Yannick ranked #5,197 in the U.S. in 2025 with 19 boys, up 29 percent on the previous decade. It first entered the federal data in 1981 and peaked in 2017.
