German family name etymology

Personal names in German-speaking Europe consist of one or several given names (Vorname, plural Vornamen) and a surname (Nachname, Familienname) The Vorname is usually gender-specific. A name is usually cited in the "Western order" of "given name, surname", unless it occurs in an alphabetized list of surnames, e.g. "Bach, Johann Sebastian".

In this, the German conventions parallel the naming conventions in most of Western and Central Europe, including English, Dutch, Italian, and French. There are some vestiges of a patronymic system as they survive in parts of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, but these do not form part of the official name.

Women traditionally adopted their husband's name upon marriage and would occasionally retain their maiden name by hyphenation, in a so-called Doppelname, e.g. "Else Lasker-Schüler". Recent legislation motivated by gender equality now tend to allow either or both parts of a married couple to choose the surname they want to use.

The most common given names are either Biblical ("Christian", derived from name of Biblical characters or saints; Johann/Hans "John", Georg/Jörg "George", Jakob "Jacob"; Anna, Maria, Barbara, Christina) or from Germanic names (Friedrich "Frederick", Ludwig "Louis", etc.) Since the 1990s, there has however been a trend of parents picking non-German forms of names, either for originality, or influenced by international celebrities, e.g. Liam (Gaelic form of William) rather than the German equivalent Wilhelm, Leon/Leonie, Kevin, Laura, etc.

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