List of terms used for Germans

There are many alternative terms for the people of Germany. In English the demonym is German. During the early Renaissance, "German" implied that the person spoke German as a native language. Until German unification, people living in what is now Germany were named for the region they lived in: examples are Bavarians and Brandenburgers. Some other terms are humorous or pejorative slang, and used mainly by people from other countries, although they can be used in a self-deprecating way by German people themselves. Other terms are serious or tongue-in-cheek attempts to coin words as alternatives to the ambiguous standard terms.

Initially, the word Dutch could refer to any Germanic-speaking area, language, or people, derived from the Proto-Germanic þiudiskaz, meaning belonging to or being part of the people. For example:

The phrase "Pennsylvania Dutch" is a corruption of the German word for German, Deutsch. To this day, descendants of German immigrants who resettled in Pennsylvania continue to refer to themselves as Pennsylvania Dutch or Pennsylvania German. Some may or may not be members of the plain people found in southcentral-southeastern Pennsylvania, such as the Mennonites or the Amish.

Today, aside from that exception, the word "Dutch" is only used to refer to the Dutch people or the Dutch language.

Hun (or The Hun) is a term used in reference to the pre-medieval Hunnic Empire of Attila. This term was used heavily during World War I and was often seen on Allied war posters.

The origin of the term was a reference to Attila the Hun in Wilhelm II's notorious "Hun speech" (Hunnenrede) delivered on 27 July 1900, when he bade farewell to the German expeditionary corps sailing from Bremerhaven to defeat the Boxer Rebellion. The relevant part of the speech was:

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