Baby needs name - a little difficult case

[Riva]

Hi everyone,
we have a little problem with the name of our second child (February)
The case is, we are both German, living here in the US since December. I think we will stay at least 5 years (when everything goes on how it should ) maybe longer.
You see, our kids will live here, go to school and preschool, find friends and so on…. That is why we need a name that doesn’t sound too strange here in the USA but can also be accepted in Germany!

In our home country old names like Emma or Paul are “in”. My taste is very similar ( I looove classical names) but maybe a little more unusual than Emma, they should not be in the Top20.…
I also like many English names (Judy, Hazel, Jade, Lucius, Nathan, Logan …) but
1) In Germany, English names are usually given by the … how should I say… “lower social class“. Unfortunately it’s a fact that many German Kevins, Justins or Jasons (these 3 are the most negative ones) show signs of behavioral problems, the parents are often out of work, care not enough for their children or are very very young. I think you’ll understand that I don’t want people thinking of all this when they hear my kids’ names…
2) It would be very funny and/or mean to confront our relatives (especially the grandparents) with the English “th” in Nathan or the “J” in Judy
3) An English name in combination with our very German surname sounds ridiculous.

I’m desperate

I post now some of our favorites: These are all German names, pretty old, not used that often like Emma but known!
I ask you to assess them. Knowing how they sound for you “real Americans" would be very interesting and important for us

Thank you
Inga

Klara / Clara
Flora
Elise
Amalia
Lene
Lotte
Lotta


Frederik
Friedrich
Fritz
Leopold
Justus
Moritz
Theodor
Konrad

 

[Pyrrhic]

I love Flora and Leopold!

What about Eloise for a girl? (pronounced eh-lo-eez)

 

[discoclare]

Hi,

I'm not American, I'm British but did live in the US as a kid (and attend elementary school) if that helps! I also want to pick a name that people can say easily in other languages as people seem to struggle with Clare (though don't have the same problems with Clara!) when I go away. We live in such an international world now I think it's very likely that my child could end up working abroad at least part of their life so they need an adaptable name.

Of your girls name I like most except Amalia (we have a similar name here Amelia). My favourite is Lotte (which I assume is pronounced Lot-ee, we spell it Lottie in the UK and I think that's the most common spelling in the US too).

Your boys names seem much more Germanic to me and I'm not so keen on them. I do like Theodor and Konrad though. Konrad cannot really be mispronounced however Theodor could be said theo-dor (th as in thanks) or Teo-dor (as in tea) depending on what country you are in. In the UK we would look at that name written down and pronounce the "th" and I'm not sure that's what you are aiming for!

 

[Riva]

Btw: The name of her big sister ist Greta Emilia Karoline

Hi,

I'm not American, I'm British but did live in the US as a kid (and attend elementary school) if that helps! I also want to pick a name that people can say easily in other languages as people seem to struggle with Clare (though don't have the same problems with Clara!) when I go away. We live in such an international world now I think it's very likely that my child could end up working abroad at least part of their life so they need an adaptable name.

Of your girls name I like most except Amalia (we have a similar name here Amelia). My favourite is Lotte (which I assume is pronounced Lot-ee, we spell it Lottie in the UK and I think that's the most common spelling in the US too).

Your boys names seem much more Germanic to me and I'm not so keen on them. I do like Theodor and Konrad though. Konrad cannot really be mispronounced however Theodor could be said theo-dor (th as in thanks) or Teo-dor (as in tea) depending on what country you are in. In the UK we would look at that name written down and pronounce the "th" and I'm not sure that's what you are aiming for!

Mhhh its sooo hard to describe our German pronunciation of certain letters without voice We dont say "Lottie" but LottE (with the E like Elephant) and I think "your" Clara sounds a little like the name Claire, but we say Clara with an "a" from "other" (confusing )

Theodor would be pronounced "Teodor" (once again with the "e" from elephant), but here i would prefere the version with th.

I love Flora and Leopold!

What about Eloise for a girl? (pronounced eh-lo-eez)

Thanks but my husband doesn't like this name so much, but you make me thinking about Louise!


Thank you both!

 

[sing<3]

I like Elise, Clara and Leopold xx

 

[louise1302]

Louise is a great international name

i love konrad and i think that could be used anywhere and flora is beautiful

 

[Riva]

Thank you

it would be great if you could also say if there is a name that sounds totally weird in your ears, irrespective of your personal taste =)


Today Greta said she likes Ida , in Germany a popular name for kids, in the USA not at all

 

[MrsJ08]

I'm not American but I like Lotta from your list as a german friend of mine has used that for her daughter and Elise. I also like Louise as it's my name!

On your boy's list I like Theodor and Konrad but perhaps you could spell them Theodore and Conrad which is a little more international?

Hope this helps

 

[readyforbaby]

Clara
Flora
Elise
Louise

are all lovely.

of your boys I like Conrad the most
also Theodore and Frederick

 

[vegasbaby]

Love all of the girl's names. I agree with discoclare that the boy's names seem a bit more Germanic. I would think that here in the states people, or other children, might want to shorten a few like, Frederik to Fred, Leopold to Leo, and Theodor to Theo, so that may be something you want to consider. Also, Moritz is a little like Maurice over here and you may want to avoid it as it is a bit outdated. Forgive me if that is a little too honest, but your post indicates that you want to stay away from names that may have an unfavorable association.

By the way, I love the name Greta, and wanted to use it myself, but DH is not convinced, he thinks it is too German, but it is still on the short list.

I'm sure whatever name you choose will be perfect.

 

[Amygdala]

''Kevin ist kein Name sondern eine Diagnose''

Off your list I like Lotta, Flora and Amalia and think they would all work well. I absolutely adore Frederick! For girls you might also like Alina, Luisa, Elena, Sophia or Maria/Marie? For boys how about Albert, Joseph or Jonas? People would get the German 'J' if you told them I'm sure, or he could just have a German version and a US version?

 

[HollyGolitely]

I like Frederik and Leopold for boys, and Elise and Amalia for girls. None of the names posted sound too odd or different to the point that they wouldn't blend, though, especially considering how "unique" names have become so popular. Good luck whichever you choose!

 

[readyforbaby]

Speaking of Greta, I have a girlfriend who is currently considering that name

 

[RubyRainbows]

I don't think any of your name choices sound "too strange" here in the US. In my opinion, the ones that are the most "american" would be Clara, Elise, & maybe Konrad (Conrad) & Frederik (although Freddy would be more common). However, nowadays anything goes!

Theodor may get teasing in school bc the Chipmunk movie is popular right now & Theodor is one of the chipmunk's names. Also, Fritz, Friedrich, Leopold, and Moritz are names i NEVER hear used and would possibly stand out... in my opinion. The name "Leo" is cute though!

How about:

Adrian
Agatha
Alessa
Alexis
Alicia
Analiese
Alyssa
Alice
Arabella
Aubrey
Ava
Cara
Carolyn
Carly
Erica
Evonna
Gabriele
Genevieve
Heidi
Isobel
Matilda
Tabitha

Albert
Archie
Arlo
Christofer
Edward
Henry
Lewis
Nickolaus

Not sure how "german" they actually are... found them on a site of german baby names! Good luck finding the perfect name for your little one!

 

[DWandMJ]

Elise is on the short list for our little girl ( so an obvious favorite) and Theodor is one of my favorite boy names although DH nixxed it.

 

[Riva]

You are great, thank you so much

Of course, Greta gets her name(s) when we didn't think about going to the USA - I was deeply relieved to hear many positive feedbacks of the people around (and these you posted of course )

I get more and more the impression Germany is more concervative and prejudiced concerning babynames. Name should be wellknown, not too common but not too exotic. Fitting to surname and name of the siblings, "best choice" are old german names "the academic names", no french or english names and so on.....

As Amygdala said :

''Kevin ist kein Name sondern eine Diagnose''

Its a popular dictum that means something like : "Kevin is not a name, but a diagnosis"

@Amygdala: Are you German?
I think we will accept the English pronunciation of the names, it's too annoying to correct everybody all the time I think.
Gretas nickname "Gretchen" soungs totally diffrent in English but she like this version as well, so it's her choice....

@ MommyTammyPA: Thank you But in fact these are no German names (maybe excepting Analiese, Arabella, Gabriele, Heidi, Matilda and Albert) But I like Matilda !!!

@vegasbaby: Convince your husband! Greta is very tasteful


Our favorites are (today): Clara, Elise, Flora, Leopold, Frederik and Konrad .... Oh boy, it's a challenge

 

[ThatGirl]

i like
Elise
Amalia

Frederik
Theodor

 

[kfarb]

Our favorites are (today): Clara, Elise, Flora, Leopold, Frederik and Konrad .... Oh boy, it's a challenge

I think all of those would work here in America. The boy names are spelled differently then Americas would spell them, but there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[beaney]

Klara / Clara, Flora, Elise, Amalia, Lene, Lotte, Lotta [/COLOR]


Frederik, Friedrich, Fritz, Leopold, Justus, Moritz, Theodor, Konrad
[/QUOTE]


Riva, your post is so interesting! We have a German surname so we're trying to think of a name that fits living in the UK, fits with the German surname, and isn't too over-used or too obscure! We also want something international in case we move abroad in the future. It's really difficult, isn't it?! I also found your point fascinating about how English names are used (and viewed) in Germany!

I really like all your girls names above (but especially Klara/Clara and Elise - and I assume Elise would be pronounced the German way which is even nicer). I also like most of the boys' names but agree with a previous post that said Moritz may get associated with Maurice and Theodor with the film.

Let us know what you decide!

 

[lauren10]

Hi there, I think the ones you posted above as your 'favorites for the day' are the ones that are definitely most American out of all of them (I'm American btw )

Clara, Elise, Flora, Leopold, Frederik and Konrad

But honestly this generation of kids are going to have really unique names I think, so don't worry about them being too different on this side of the sea!