The worst German girl names | Never use these names

Here is a list of German girl names I would never name my children. Not specifically because I don’t like them (even if some I really don’t :P) But because I just can’t pronounce these names right in a relaxed context. I mean between a conversation during dinner or playing a sport.

You will see many of the names meaning on this list are related to fight, battle or war. I have to confess that many of these names are old, and not really that used anymore in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

Here is the list:

Brundhild

Brunhild is an old German name: brunni means breastplate (armor), and hild stands for battle. The name means something like “in the armor for battle”.

Geertje/Gertje

Old German and Dutch name, means the strength with spear. Geertje Tutschka is a very well known German lawyer. It can be written with one or two “e” but I believe the most used version is with two “e”.

Gudrun/Gutrun

This is an old German or Nordic name meaning Struggle and mystery, the mysterious fighter, Strength, struggle. It can be written with a “d” or a “t”, however the version with a “t” is rarely used. Gudrun Kopp is the name of a German politician.

Irmgard/Irmgart

Irmgart is also an old German name that means the all-embracing protector. There is a St. Irmgard from cologne, from the 11th century. And also Irmgard of Berg, heiress of Berg. She lived in the 13th century, was the child of Adolf VI count of Berg and Berta von Sayn.

Irmtraud

Irmtraud means something like strong all-embracing, the one that oversees everything. The German writer called Irmtraud Morgner is best known for her work on magic realism, predominantly about the role of gender in East German society.

Odilgard

Oldigard means something like protect a possession and I guess this name is nearly not used. At least I couldn’t even find someone known named Odilgard. Maybe you know an Odilgard, let me know on the comments.

Sünje

Sünje is derived from the Frisian word sün, which means the sun and the specific spelling “Sünje” means little sun. This name is more likely to be found in the north of Germany, specifically in the Schleswig-Holstein state. Sünje Lewejohann is a German writer that was born in 1972 in Flensburg (really in the north of Germany).

Thusnelda

I am not sure about Thusnelda’s meaning, but it seems to be something like the big fighter. Thusnelda was a Germanic Cheruscan noblewoman who was captured by the Roman general Germanicus during his invasion of Germania. One of the characters on the known Netflix series Barbarians is Thisnelda. This caracther is based on the same Thusnelda. So maybe this is a name becoming a more popular, who knows.

Wipke/Wiebke

Means figher and some people would even consider that Wipke is the wrong spelling for Wiebke, which has the same meaning. Wiebke Kethorn is a German handball player. She plays for the club VfL Oldenburg, and on the German national team, and she also represented Germany at the 2013 World Women’s Handball Championship in Serbia.

Vroni

Means the one who brings victory. Originated as a Latinized form of a Macedonian name ‘Beronike’, which goes back to the Greek name ‘Pherenike’. There are not many Vronis but from the 17 baby girls named Vroni in Germany from 1958 until 2008 that I found, 14 were registered in Bavaria. So it looks like this name is much more popular in Bavaria than in any other state in Germany. I could find a German writer named Vroni Müller on Amazon. She was actually born in the capital of Bavaria, Munich.

Waltraud

Means something like the strongest on the batterfield. Waltraud Dietsch is a retired German sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. She won a gold medal in 4×400 metres relay at the 1974 European Championships.

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Most of there names have war or battle related meanings. I know those could be a reason for some people to chose them, but for me is one more reason not to name a child of mine any of these german girl names. One other point is that these names are in general considered outdated and démodé, and difficult to find. Maybe in the future they will become fashionable again.

And you? What do you think about these names? Do you love them or not really?