German First Names and Their English Equivalents

Anyone researching names soon becomes aware that, because of spelling variations and other changes, it is often difficult to determine the true origin of a name, particularly family names. Many names were altered (Americanized, anglicized) for various reasons. Just one example: The German last name Schön (beautiful) became Shane, a change that deceptively hides its German origin.

Not all German first or last names have an English equivalent, but many do. We won't bother with obvious ones like Adolf, Christoph, Dorothea (dor-o-taya), Georg (gay-org), Michael (meech-ah-el), Monika (mow-ni-kah), Thomas (tow-mas), or Wilhelm (vil-helm). They may be pronounced differently but the resemblance is hard to miss.

• Adalbert/Albrecht (Albert)
• Alois (Aloysius)
• Anja/Antje/Anke (Anna)
• Bärbel (Barbara)
• Beke (north German form of Bertha)
• Bernd/Bernt (Bernard)
• Birgit (Swedish form of Brigitte, which is actually a Celtic name)
• Dolf (short form from names ending in - dolf)
• Dorle (Dora, Dot, Dorothy)
• Eugen (oy-gen, Eugene)
• Franz (Frank)
• Gabi (form of Gabriele)
• Gerhard (Gerald)
• Gottfried (Geoffrey, Jeffrey, Godfrey)
• Greta (Margaret)
• Hans/Jens/Johann(es) (Jack, John, Jonathan)
• Heinrich/Heino/Heinz (Henry)
• Ilse (Elizabeth)
• Jakob (James)
• Jörg/Jürgen (George)
• Jutta (Judy/Judith)
• Karl/Karla (Charles/Carol)
• Karsten/Carsten/Kersten (variation of Christian)
• Katrin (C/Katherine)
• Kirsten/Kirstin (Christine)
• Lars (Larry), Leni (Helen/e)
• Ludwig (Lewis/Louis)
• Margit (Martha)
• Matthias (Mathew)
• Nastasja (Anastasia),
• Nils (Nick)
• Ninja (neen-ya, Nina)
• Peer (Peter)
• Reinhold (Reginald)
• Renate (Renee)
• Rolf (Rudolph)
• Rüdiger/Rudi (Roger, Rudolph)
• Sepp (form of Joseph)
• Silke (Frisian form of Cecily/Cecilia)
• Steffi (Stephanie)
• Thea (short form of Dorothea)
• Theo (Theodore)

These female german names do not have an English equivalent.

• Ada/Adda
• Adelheid (Heidi is the familiar form)
• Astrid, Beate, Brunhild(e)
• Dagmar (from Danish)
• Dietrun
• Effi/Elfriede/Elfi
• Eike (also male)
• Elke
• Frauke
• Friedel (related to Elfriede)
• Gerda
• Gerlinde
• Gertrud(e)
• Gisela
• Gunthild(e)
• Harmke
• Hedwig
• Heidrun
• Heike
• Helga
• Hilde/Hildegard
• Hildrun
• Hilke
• Imke
• Irma
• Irmgard
• Irmtraud
• Ingeborg
• Kai
• Kriemhild
• Ludmilla
• Marlene
• Mathilde
• Meinhild
• Ottilie
• Roswitha
• Senta
• Sieglinde
• Sigrid
• Sigrun
• Sonja
• Tanja (from Russian)
• Theda
• Tilla/Tilli
• Traude
• Trudi
• Ulrike
• Una
• Ursula/Uschi
• Ute/Uta
• Waltraud
• Wilhelmine
• Winifred

These male german names do not have an English equivalent.

• Achim
• Bodo/Bot(h)o
• Dagobert (no, not Dogbert!)
• Detlef/Detlev
• Dieter,
• Dietmar
• Dirk
• Eberhard
• Eckehard/Eckart
• Egon
• Emil (masculine form of Emily, Emilio in Span)
• Engelbert
• Erhard/Erhart
• Falko
• Gandolf
• Gerd/Gert,
• Golo, Gunt(h)er
• Gustav (from Swedish)
• Hartmut,
• Hartwig
• Helge
• Helmut
• Holger (from Danish)
• Horst
• Ingomar
• Joachim (Achim)
• Kai
• Knut
• Manfred
• Norbert
• Odo/Udo
• Otmar
• Otto
• Rainer (rye-ner)
• Reinhold
• Siegfried
• Siegmund/Sigmund
• Sönk
• Torsten/Thorsten
• Till
• Ulf
• Ulrich/Uli
• Uwe
• Veit
• Vilmar
• Volker
• Waldemar
• Wern(h)er
• Wieland
• Wigand
• Wolfgang
• Wolfram