German baby boy names – the most popular names

Here you can see the top 10 German baby boy names from the general boy names ranking in Germany. I guess you will be as surprised after checking the whole list. All the top names are very easy to pronounce and very international!

I asked my husband to read all these girl names, so you can hear a native German speaker pronunciation on the video. I also talk a little bit about our son’s name and how do Germans pronounce it. This is the most up to date official Top 10 list for German baby boy names of the society for German language.

10. Felix

It is a Latin name that means “happy” or “lucky” and it appears in the bible. Felix is very common in many European countries and in many some languages is used with an acute or grave accent on the “e”.

9. Henry or Henri

Henry or Henri is the 9th most used name for baby boys in Germany! The version with an “i” in the end is the Estonian, Finnish, French and Luxembourgish form of Henry. But both variations are pronounced the same (check video). It actually derives from a Germanic name: Heimirich, which means “home ruler” and it is very historical. It was the name of 7 German Kings and 4 French Kings. This is a go, if you are fascinated by royal names! Henry is the name that which popularity has increased the most when compared to the previous year (12 to 8 as fist given name).

8. Noah

This is an Hebrew name and means “rest” or “repose”. It is also a very known Biblical name, Noah was the builder of the ark that allowed the survival of the Great Flood.

7. Leon

Leon is the number 7 on the top 10 List of most popular boy names in Germany. This name derives from the Greek and has quite a meaning, it means lion. You know that we call our baby our little lion. This is not our baby’s name but it could be.

6. Louis or Luis

The next name derives from a Germanic name and is Louis/Luis. It derives from the name Hludowig. In German you can also find the name Ludwig, which has the same meaning: famous warrior. It was also a name very used in the royalty in France, Germany, Hungry and other countries. In German both variations (with an “o” or without) are pronounced the same (check the video).

5. Ben

On the 5th place there is Ben. Ben can be a short version of Benjamin, which is a Hebrew name, or of Benedict, that is a Latin name. It is a very short name and easy to pronounce, making it very international.

4. Elias

Elias is the next name on the top 10 of baby boy names in Germany. It is as Hebrew name and has also a biblical origin. It means “God the Lord” or “Yahweh is God” or “Jehovah is God”. Actually this was a name allowed just for Jews during the Nazism. And all other citizens were forbidden to use this name. After the year 2000 it become really trendy in Germany.

3. Maximilian

The 3rd name most used in Germany for baby boys is Maximilian. Maximilian derives from the Latin name Maximus, which means “greatest”. It was a name used within the German royalty. Even if you name your baby Maximilian, he will most probably be called “Max” by Germans at least.

2. Alexander

The next on the list, and the second most used name for boys in Germany is Alexander. Like Maximilian, Alexanders are usually called by a short version, in this case is Alex. Alexander derives from the Greek and it means “defending men”, “protect” or “help”. The popularity of Alexander the great made this name being spread throughout Europe. Actually from the generally most used baby boy’s names in Germany, Alexander is the only one that is mainly used a second given name combined with other names. for example: Paul Alexander or Ben Alexander.

1. Paul

On the top of the list there is the name Paul. It is a Latin name that means “small” or “modest”. This is a biblical name and is common, with variations, in all European languages. This is again an usually easy name to pronounce in many different languages.

Jonas and Lucas/Lukas didn’t get into the top 10 general given boy names but are in the top 10 of first baby boy given names in Germany.

We ended up naming our baby boy with what is the Portuguese and Spanish version of the name Michael, Miguel. Michael is the 5th most common second name in Germany. We are very happy about our choice, but I have to tell you that sometimes (and it is not that rare) people pronounce wrongly his name, but we have to live with it!

For more detailed information about first names, second names, general popularity for baby boy names in Germany and meaning of names check the websites on the references.

Is there any name of the most popular in Germany that you are considering to use? Do you take into consideration the meaning of a name before making a choice? Let me know on the comments down below.

Check the video

In this video I resume all the information about the German baby boy names and you can also hear the a native speaker pronunciation for all the TOP 10 German baby boy names.

I want to thank my husband to lend me his voice and German accent for the names on the video!

>>>> Check here tips on how to raise bilingual children <<<<

Statistics for 2018

Ranking and % of use (in brackets the ranking of the previous year):

1. Paul (3) 1,32

2. Alexander (2) 1,30

3. Maximilian (1) 1,29

4. Elias (4) 1,23

5. Ben (5) 1,17

6. Louis/Luis (8) 1,14

7. Leon (7) 1,09

8. Noah (6) 1,07

9. Henry/Henri (12) 1,03

10. Felix (10) 0,96

First given name ranking

Ranking and % of use (in brackets the ranking of the previous year) + the main list ranking :

1. Ben (1) 5

2. Paul (2) 1

3. Leon (4) 7

4. Noah (3) 8

5. Louis/Luis (8) 6

6. Jonas (5) 13

7. Elias (7) 4

8. Henry/Henri (12) 9

9. Felix (6) 10

10. Lukas/Lucas (9) 14

11. Finn (11) 15

12. Maximilian (10) 3

13. Emil (13) 11

14. Luca/Luka (14) 12

15. Jakob/Jacob (15) 16

Second given name ranking

(Ranking of the previous year placed in brackets) + General ranking + Relationship between the first and second or follow-up given name (FN: SN): If the name Alexander was assigned 100 times as a first name, it was also used 145 times as a second given name. If the name Maximilian was chosen 100 times as the first name, it was also given 71 times as second given name.

1. Alexander (1) 2 1:1,45

2. Maximilian (2) 3 1:0,71

3. Elias (3) 4 1:0,49

4. Paul (4)1 1:0,41

5. Michael (5)38 1:1,97

6. Karl/Carl (6)20 1:0,67

7. Joseph/Josef (7)51 1:2,75

8. Johann/Johan (10)29 1:1,93

9. Louis/Luis (11)6 1:0,39

10. Johannes (8)35 1:0,98

11. Luca/Luka (13)12 1:0,34

12. Emil (15)11 1:0,32

13. Anton (17)17 1:0,36

14. Andreas (14)68 1:2,75

15. Peter (18)76 1:5,21

References:

• https://gfds.de/ausfuehrliche-auswertung-vornamen-2018/
• https://www.behindthename.com/