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Help[Opinions] Re: BAs from Germany... (long)
in reply to a message by Capucine
Wow, I actually like a lot of them, especially among the girls. I see you listed the middle name each time, is it mentioned a lot in Germany? For some reason I thought it was mainly an Anglo-Saxon practice.
I love Alma and I think it has all the qualities for a comeback. If Ava and Alice are so popular, why not Alma? Josepha is a little more surprising.
Favourites:
Teophania - I had this name on my mind a lot these days, I especially like Teophanie.
Odetta Margarethe Fleur - the overall aspect is a little strange and I don't think Odetta Margarethe flows well, but I like it.
Rebekka Marion
Leonora Ursula
Anne Esther
Virginia Petra
Cosima Louise
Alma Margarethe
Eleonore Bastienne - sounds like a French girl from the 19th century
I love Alma and I think it has all the qualities for a comeback. If Ava and Alice are so popular, why not Alma? Josepha is a little more surprising.
Favourites:
Teophania - I had this name on my mind a lot these days, I especially like Teophanie.
Odetta Margarethe Fleur - the overall aspect is a little strange and I don't think Odetta Margarethe flows well, but I like it.
Rebekka Marion
Leonora Ursula
Anne Esther
Virginia Petra
Cosima Louise
Alma Margarethe
Eleonore Bastienne - sounds like a French girl from the 19th century
This message was edited 12/16/2009, 4:57 AM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
Mentioning the middle names... I'm under the impression that it's a fairly new thing in Germany. When I clicked my way through all those BAs, about 1/3 of them (maybe a tad more) had the middle names mentioned. And I'm pretty sure a some of the babies who had only the first name mentioned don't have any middle name at all. For a while, it was a little out of fashion to give your children middle names (especially in the 1980s I think. Maybe this was a regional/"religious" thing as well: many of my Protestant friends from northern Germany have only a first name while most of my friends from the Catholic south have a first name plus at least one middle name. One of them is usually the name of a godparent).
Nowadays, the middle names are back - sort of. It's an ongoing discussion on the forums and among young parents(-to-be that I know) whether a middle name is "necessary" or not...
Oh wow, that went off-topic, sorry for that. And as I said, it's just my impression. Maybe JHK can confirm...?
Anyways, I'm with you on Alma: I'd love that name to come back. I really like it.
Ditto on Odetta Margarethe. The flow is a little off, but for some reason this combo works for me.
Nowadays, the middle names are back - sort of. It's an ongoing discussion on the forums and among young parents(-to-be that I know) whether a middle name is "necessary" or not...
Oh wow, that went off-topic, sorry for that. And as I said, it's just my impression. Maybe JHK can confirm...?
Anyways, I'm with you on Alma: I'd love that name to come back. I really like it.
Ditto on Odetta Margarethe. The flow is a little off, but for some reason this combo works for me.
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About MNs in Germany
Well, I'm no expert either but I'll give you my impression: Capucine might be right about middle names not being en vogue in the 1980s, I'm a counter-example though: Born in 1987, I have a middle name that isn't even honoring. However, I do agree that picking a middle name which the parents "just liked" is becoming more and more common. I think honoring middle names have been in use for over a century (especially in catholic families where two middle names are no exception, one for either godparent). Yes, middle names in Germany are not mentioned as often as they are in the US but I regularly mention mine ;)
Well, I'm no expert either but I'll give you my impression: Capucine might be right about middle names not being en vogue in the 1980s, I'm a counter-example though: Born in 1987, I have a middle name that isn't even honoring. However, I do agree that picking a middle name which the parents "just liked" is becoming more and more common. I think honoring middle names have been in use for over a century (especially in catholic families where two middle names are no exception, one for either godparent). Yes, middle names in Germany are not mentioned as often as they are in the US but I regularly mention mine ;)
This message was edited 12/17/2009, 10:47 AM
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Thanks. In France middle names are most of the time honoring names or godparents name too for the Catholics, but are usally not thought as "combos". They're much less mentioned than in England or the USA for example. That's why it made me curious.
I wish I had one, even old or dated!
I wish I had one, even old or dated!
This message was edited 12/16/2009, 6:43 PM
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I find it quite interesting to learn the different takes on these things myself :-)
In general, first names plus godparent names aren't really considered "combos" here, either. They are sort of "just there".
But from what I observed among the young parents I know and on the boards, people are slowly veering away from "just sticking" a godparent's name to the chosen first name and are moving towards giving their children "just-because-names" (à la "Why did you choose this middle name?" "Just because we liked it" ;-) ) instead or in addition to an honouring name.
I'm pretty sure some of the middle names in the BAs I posted here are honouring names; it's just a tad hard to tell which ones they are as we are having a huge wave of old names right now. Old names - alongside Scandinavian names - are really popular/almost trendy right now.
That's why one could wonder whether some of the names in there belong to a child born in 2009 or in 1909 ;-)
In general, first names plus godparent names aren't really considered "combos" here, either. They are sort of "just there".
But from what I observed among the young parents I know and on the boards, people are slowly veering away from "just sticking" a godparent's name to the chosen first name and are moving towards giving their children "just-because-names" (à la "Why did you choose this middle name?" "Just because we liked it" ;-) ) instead or in addition to an honouring name.
I'm pretty sure some of the middle names in the BAs I posted here are honouring names; it's just a tad hard to tell which ones they are as we are having a huge wave of old names right now. Old names - alongside Scandinavian names - are really popular/almost trendy right now.
That's why one could wonder whether some of the names in there belong to a child born in 2009 or in 1909 ;-)
This message was edited 12/16/2009, 7:45 PM
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