Middlenames are really common in germany aswell. Its like tradition aswell you getting the first name of grandpartents like "Oliver Bernhard" and cool kids have fancy names too, but mondern style Like "Justin Pascal" tho
I'm German. I have a middle name. My kids all have middle names. My parents, brothers and most of my friends have middle names. I'm surprised a German says it's not common. Almost everyone I know has one.
It is common in Germany in the regions with a catholic majority. It is offen the name of your godfather, but noone ever uses it. But it is in your passport.
@@MadMusicNerd i think it's literally almost impossible to change your name in Germany without a good reason. I assume this extends to middle names. But there are also a lot of restrictions about naming children, which I assume also extends to middle names. Also, why??? Your middle name literally doesn't matter. Just don't tell anyone about it and it practically disappears.
@@MadMusicNerd actual answer: Depending on where you live it could be Landratsamt, Bürgerbüro or Standesamt. But it's really only possible if you can prove that it's a burden. (You can change the order of your names more easily, apparently)
Most people in Germany have middle names, some even have several. My mother and grandmother both have two middle names and I have one. My father is the only family member who doesn't have any. I tend to think that "lower class" families (f.e. my father's) traditionally gave their children fewer names than "upper class" families (f.e. my mother's) but I guess that's no longer the case today. Some noble families give their children up to four middle names, but nobility is quite rare. My head teacher in elementary school once told us about a noble student whose name was so long that it took three lines on his school report to write it down. An example for Franconian names of nobility is Stauffenberg, who became famous for the attempt to kill H*tler. His full name was "Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg" which looks quite long but he actually only had two middle names (Philipp Maria) and the rest of the name belonged to his last name (respectively to his style prior to 1919). Notable is the middle name "Maria" (for Mary, mother of Jesus Christ) which was widely spread among catholic men until the last century. As far as I know, this is the only example for a female name used for males in Germany, but only as a middle name.
@@HaleG9 According to a survey (2015) 40,8% of the new borns were given at least one middle name (vs. over 70% in 1916). Despite the tendency towards less and shorter names, I would assume that most people in Germany have one or more than one middle name. (Edit: Because most people currently living in Germany were named between 1940 and 1980)
Hi! my family comes from Ostfriesland (ask Janine about that 😉) where the napoleonic name scheme was accepted very slowly (changing only the first name, but keeping the same family name). Before that it was similar to the scandinavian scheme, where one person would be named e.g. Jan Svensson - Jan, the son of Sven -, his son could be Hoger Jansson - Holger, the son of Jan. In Ostfriesland it was very similar. So in my family very many people had the name "Focke" or "Fokke" as first name or "Focken" / "Fokken" as "family name" if his father's name was "Focke"/"Fokke" (please explain to Gen that these are names and no sexual offenses!) and vice versa. After introduction of the napoleonic name scheme they kept this tradition by changing the first and middle name and keeping a constant family name. In the early 19th century the family name "Schmidt" was added as constant family name, but many family members kept "Focke"/"Fokke" as first name or "Focken"/"Fokken" as middle name, alternating from generation to generation. This tradition lives on up to my own generation (thank god not with "Focke"). But my middle name is the male version of my grandma's first name, my brother's middle name is a variation of my father's first name. That's tradition.
I’m German and I don’t have one so it’s definitely not as common as in the US (basically nobody in my family does). But it is common enough that I would think everyone has heard of it at some point 😅
@@Dokker62I’m not sure if this was a response to me or the video but yes this is what I meant - don’t have one myself but more than enough people have one to have heard of the concept
We do have middle names in Germany but not everyone does have one. My mother does, I don't. 🤷♀️ According to statistics 200 years ago 66% of Germans had a middle name, in 2016 only 35% had one.
There was a case where someone has put "n/a" in the field of middle name as she didn't have one. Problem is, that her name was "Sarah n/a Mueller" from that date (I don't know her name I just know that she was German). She had to do a lot of stuff and pay a lot of money to get that fixed.
We've had 4 generations of Franz Josef Reischl in the family. There's only about 200 or so Reischls in the entire US. Imagine how many Reischls there must be that have the same names in Bavaria?
This must be a regional thing, it's definitely not a German thing. I'm German and I have a middle name, so do all of my relatives and most of my friends...
I feel that in Northern German, especially Eastern Germany, the tradition is dying out. It especially makes sense since it was most common among the aristocracy originally, while working class people didn't really use them hundreds of years ago since most people didn't move that far away from their homes, so there wouldn't be the need to distinguish yourself from others with the same name. Last names became more common after the black death led to mass labour shortages, which gave workers more power as a hot commodity and allowed for greater travel to work. Middle names were seen as more of an emulation of the aristocracy and some realms even banned non-aristocrats from having middle names as it erased a key distinction between the common riff-raff and themselves. People after WWII just seemed to drop middle names as they were seen as unnecessary as they were never used, and I could see some East Germans associating it with the nobility, and thus it being anti-proletarian. In Southern Germany and Austria, they are still very common, which makes sense as these regions cling to traditions much more than the utilitarian Northerners.
I'm German and my mom's grandma has, I believe, 3 names and then the last name. But that's just a special thing it's definitely not really common nowadays. My brother has a middle name because his name is short. Mine is already long so my parents didn't give me a second name. His middle name is my dad's dad's name.
Yeah really common in India as there even people with the same first, middle and last name because of population. And females middle( husband name)and last name (his family name)change after marriage.
Middleton name was like a titel Her.docter. sir. madam. Like before it was having money if there was a name referal J.P. Jane G.J both like that 😂😂😂G.J.Lock 😂
Dutch Catholics often have many names: the personal first name, two names of the grand parents, the saint associated with the birthday, the favourite saint of the parents and Maia ( also for men).
In Germany middle name had been very common earlier. I'm 57 and my mom, dad, grandparents etc have had middle names. Normally the second name was the name of their mother or father. The tradition got lost in the second half of the last century. Also the traditional first names have changed. Karl, Fritz Wilhelm or Wilhelmine, Elisabeth, Elfriede are very rare in my generation.
I lived in a town in nova scotia, there was 5 people with the exact 1st, middle and surname....my grandfather and myself being 2 of them..... i never met the other 3.... i did get one of the other 3 mail once in a while because our wifes name was the same....
In my country if a family is religious middle names are usually the names of angels so they protect the person who has their name I don’t have one because that’s a more older generational thing but I still thought it was interesting
I also think it's a religious thing. My father's family is raised and Baptisted (?) as a Roman Catholic. Everybody from my father's side in the family has 3 first names, myself included... And yes, my second and third name are both the first names of both my grandfathers...
My stepmother was Karen Louis Worth before she married my dad. A big developer in the area named, Walt Worth, also had a wife named Karen Louis Worthy. It was crazy because they keep getting each other's mail & stuff.
Me and my sister have middle names of our grandma and great grandma, her middle is our great grandmas first name and mine is our grandmas first name :) my cousin has 2 middle names, her dads moms name and our grandmas middle name :)
Ja, meine Mutter used her middle name as her first. So Luise Ilse became Ilse from childhood.. I have no middle name. Makes it easy when giving your full name..😂😊
In my family, mother and father get used middle name only, but in the official documents used to called by first name. This is hell for them. Even some neibourgh and friends always get astonished to know real first name. Me and my sister had given only first name to avoid such situations.
I don't know any German that doesn't know what a middle name is, in Germany it's just if you are a girl and have a name that could be a boys name also you need to be given a middle name
I'm Russian. And we haven't got middle name BUT!!! we have got something like middle name.. for example. Mandy Jacob Smith. Second name is my dad's name!! Amazing? Strange? Idk
I'm German and have a middle name, lots of people in my university have a middle name aswell.
dont confuse it with your "second first name"
What would be the difference?
Almost every friend i have has a middle name, often the Name of the father Like me
No one in my German family has a middle name that I'm aware of, only me and my sister have them.... she's half and half American and I'm full German.
Not lot's of. Several maybe.
I’m from Austria and middle names are something very common!
Don´t tell me they are Erika.
😂@@PROVOCATEURSK
interessant, in niederösterreich ist das nicht so üblich😊
I'm German and it's a thing here too wym???
Middlenames are really common in germany aswell. Its like tradition aswell you getting the first name of grandpartents like "Oliver Bernhard" and cool kids have fancy names too, but mondern style Like "Justin Pascal" tho
@@denizd.9080Jeremy Pascal lmao
@@denizd.9080"Cool kids" 😂
Frfr me as a German having 4 names 😅
I'm German. I have a middle name. My kids all have middle names. My parents, brothers and most of my friends have middle names. I'm surprised a German says it's not common. Almost everyone I know has one.
And why?
It is common in Germany in the regions with a catholic majority. It is offen the name of your godfather, but noone ever uses it. But it is in your passport.
I think that's something else....
But can I remove it? Standesamt? Einwohnermeldeamt? Like how is the procedere for getting rid of my god ugly middle name?
@@MadMusicNerd i think it's literally almost impossible to change your name in Germany without a good reason. I assume this extends to middle names. But there are also a lot of restrictions about naming children, which I assume also extends to middle names.
Also, why??? Your middle name literally doesn't matter. Just don't tell anyone about it and it practically disappears.
@@MadMusicNerd actual answer:
Depending on where you live it could be Landratsamt, Bürgerbüro or Standesamt.
But it's really only possible if you can prove that it's a burden. (You can change the order of your names more easily, apparently)
Most people in Germany have middle names, some even have several. My mother and grandmother both have two middle names and I have one. My father is the only family member who doesn't have any. I tend to think that "lower class" families (f.e. my father's) traditionally gave their children fewer names than "upper class" families (f.e. my mother's) but I guess that's no longer the case today. Some noble families give their children up to four middle names, but nobility is quite rare. My head teacher in elementary school once told us about a noble student whose name was so long that it took three lines on his school report to write it down. An example for Franconian names of nobility is Stauffenberg, who became famous for the attempt to kill H*tler. His full name was "Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg" which looks quite long but he actually only had two middle names (Philipp Maria) and the rest of the name belonged to his last name (respectively to his style prior to 1919). Notable is the middle name "Maria" (for Mary, mother of Jesus Christ) which was widely spread among catholic men until the last century. As far as I know, this is the only example for a female name used for males in Germany, but only as a middle name.
I do not think that is correct. There are some (usually older and/or more traditional people). But most people surely have no middle name.
@@HaleG9 According to a survey (2015) 40,8% of the new borns were given at least one middle name (vs. over 70% in 1916). Despite the tendency towards less and shorter names, I would assume that most people in Germany have one or more than one middle name. (Edit: Because most people currently living in Germany were named between 1940 and 1980)
Hi!
my family comes from Ostfriesland (ask Janine about that 😉) where the napoleonic name scheme was accepted very slowly (changing only the first name, but keeping the same family name). Before that it was similar to the scandinavian scheme, where one person would be named e.g. Jan Svensson - Jan, the son of Sven -, his son could be Hoger Jansson - Holger, the son of Jan. In Ostfriesland it was very similar. So in my family very many people had the name "Focke" or "Fokke" as first name or "Focken" / "Fokken" as "family name" if his father's name was "Focke"/"Fokke" (please explain to Gen that these are names and no sexual offenses!) and vice versa. After introduction of the napoleonic name scheme they kept this tradition by changing the first and middle name and keeping a constant family name. In the early 19th century the family name "Schmidt" was added as constant family name, but many family members kept "Focke"/"Fokke" as first name or "Focken"/"Fokken" as middle name, alternating from generation to generation. This tradition lives on up to my own generation (thank god not with "Focke"). But my middle name is the male version of my grandma's first name, my brother's middle name is a variation of my father's first name. That's tradition.
That's pretty normal in Germany too
Hi a middle Name ist relative Common in Germany
Johann Wolfgang Goethe 😂 Johann Sebastian Bach 😂
Klaus Maria Brandauer, Markus Maria Profilich usw.
Yep, historically that is true. But mostly, in modern Germany, this tradition has vanished.
literally 90% of my class has middle names (i live in germany)
I’m German and I don’t have one so it’s definitely not as common as in the US (basically nobody in my family does). But it is common enough that I would think everyone has heard of it at some point 😅
Just because you don't have a middle name it's not necessarily uncommon. I'm german, too, and have a middle name just as many other countrymen I know.
@@Dokker62I’m not sure if this was a response to me or the video but yes this is what I meant - don’t have one myself but more than enough people have one to have heard of the concept
We do have middle names in Germany but not everyone does have one. My mother does, I don't. 🤷♀️
According to statistics 200 years ago 66% of Germans had a middle name, in 2016 only 35% had one.
I’m Dutch and I have an middle name
Me who has 5 parts in my name 💀
There was a case where someone has put "n/a" in the field of middle name as she didn't have one. Problem is, that her name was "Sarah n/a Mueller" from that date (I don't know her name I just know that she was German). She had to do a lot of stuff and pay a lot of money to get that fixed.
Don't tell her about the Spanish 😂
Everyone who doesn't have a middle name I just add Marie ...even guys, or dogs
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech
My grandpa had 4 siblings and all of them had a middle name, but with him for some reason they forgot lol… He was always a little annoyed about it.
"Keeping you on lock" kills me everytime
We've had 4 generations of Franz Josef Reischl in the family. There's only about 200 or so Reischls in the entire US. Imagine how many Reischls there must be that have the same names in Bavaria?
Finally I learn what "Gen" really means. 😅
It was funny to find out a classmate's middle name was Xaver by taking a peek at the ID card. 🤭
This must be a regional thing, it's definitely not a German thing. I'm German and I have a middle name, so do all of my relatives and most of my friends...
I feel that in Northern German, especially Eastern Germany, the tradition is dying out. It especially makes sense since it was most common among the aristocracy originally, while working class people didn't really use them hundreds of years ago since most people didn't move that far away from their homes, so there wouldn't be the need to distinguish yourself from others with the same name.
Last names became more common after the black death led to mass labour shortages, which gave workers more power as a hot commodity and allowed for greater travel to work.
Middle names were seen as more of an emulation of the aristocracy and some realms even banned non-aristocrats from having middle names as it erased a key distinction between the common riff-raff and themselves.
People after WWII just seemed to drop middle names as they were seen as unnecessary as they were never used, and I could see some East Germans associating it with the nobility, and thus it being anti-proletarian.
In Southern Germany and Austria, they are still very common, which makes sense as these regions cling to traditions much more than the utilitarian Northerners.
@@hoathanatos6179 Makes sense I guess, I'm from the Rhineland.
Gertrude. Genevieve is a beautiful name but for a German, Gertrude rocks. 😂
wtf do you know about German names?
The middle name is there to be used when your parents are really mad at you.
german clarity: "that does not make sense!" exactly my kind of humour
I'm German and my mom's grandma has, I believe, 3 names and then the last name. But that's just a special thing it's definitely not really common nowadays. My brother has a middle name because his name is short. Mine is already long so my parents didn't give me a second name. His middle name is my dad's dad's name.
Yeah really common in India as there even people with the same first, middle and last name because of population. And females middle( husband name)and last name (his family name)change after marriage.
I’m German and most of my relatives from my mom‘s side hade a middle name. At least those that I know of. I even have two middle names.^^
Catholic' first child in Italy used to have at least three first names an a last name.
I have my first name then my two grandad's names.
My first name is my Grandpa's middle name and my middle name is my other Grandpa's first name
Middleton name was like a titel Her.docter. sir. madam. Like before it was having money if there was a name referal J.P. Jane G.J both like that 😂😂😂G.J.Lock 😂
My paternal grandfather had TWO middle names: August and Heinrich. He was born in the US, but his parents came from Germany.
It's common in some places in the usa to use the middle name, Emma Jean, Ellie Rose, Kelly Ann...
I (german) have a middle name too, since this is the internet i give a edited example
Bernhard Geronimo Ratzinger
Most of my family, myself included, have at least two names. My brother has three.
People in US for a long time had the mothers family name as middle name.
There are like 10 people with my exact same first and last name in the US...and that is just the ones I know of.
Two first names and two LAST names here jajjaha
I’m actually caked by my middle name.
Dutch Catholics often have many names: the personal first name, two names of the grand parents, the saint associated with the birthday, the favourite saint of the parents and Maia ( also for men).
In Germany middle name had been very common earlier.
I'm 57 and my mom, dad, grandparents etc have had middle names. Normally the second name was the name of their mother or father. The tradition got lost in the second half of the last century. Also the traditional first names have changed. Karl, Fritz Wilhelm or Wilhelmine, Elisabeth, Elfriede are very rare in my generation.
My German great grandfather and gggrandfather had middle names. They were from Bavaria
I lived in a town in nova scotia, there was 5 people with the exact 1st, middle and surname....my grandfather and myself being 2 of them..... i never met the other 3.... i did get one of the other 3 mail once in a while because our wifes name was the same....
In my country if a family is religious middle names are usually the names of angels so they protect the person who has their name
I don’t have one because that’s a more older generational thing but I still thought it was interesting
I also think it's a religious thing.
My father's family is raised and Baptisted (?) as a Roman Catholic.
Everybody from my father's side in the family has 3 first names, myself included...
And yes, my second and third name are both the first names of both my grandfathers...
She’s absolutely beautiful wow xxxxx
My stepmother was Karen Louis Worth before she married my dad. A big developer in the area named, Walt Worth, also had a wife named Karen Louis Worthy. It was crazy because they keep getting each other's mail & stuff.
I have a first name, 2 middle names, a surname and a family name, so 5 names (and 7 words) in total and I'm German.
Middle names in belgium were often thise of the godparents
My friend is German and he has two middle names 😂
great product placement ;)
My German daughter-in-law has three names and is known by the second one.
Me and my sister have middle names of our grandma and great grandma, her middle is our great grandmas first name and mine is our grandmas first name :) my cousin has 2 middle names, her dads moms name and our grandmas middle name :)
German here: my daughter has my grandmother’s first name as a middle name.
Ja, meine Mutter used her middle name as her first. So Luise Ilse became Ilse from childhood..
I have no middle name. Makes it easy when giving your full name..😂😊
I don't have a legal middle name but technically I have an unofficial one which is David
In my family, mother and father get used middle name only, but in the official documents used to called by first name. This is hell for them. Even some neibourgh and friends always get astonished to know real first name. Me and my sister had given only first name to avoid such situations.
From Finland and Denmark i have a middle name
That's why we have 2 surnames?
In Poland it's Christening name.
For example: John Smith…so many of them so John Peter Smith…still lots of them, ah but is you are called John Peter Smith Abdul , thats diferent
shes gorgeous
Don’t need a middle name, my family name is already unique (curse and blessing at the same time)
Me and quite a few of my cousins are named Jonathan or John Michelin I have to use my middle name or an alias half the time it pisses me off
Looks like the fight😂
I have several middle names.
I don't know any German that doesn't know what a middle name is, in Germany it's just if you are a girl and have a name that could be a boys name also you need to be given a middle name
There are more than 25 people in the United States with my exact name including the middle name
I have 2 middle names 😂
In germany we have also middle name if you are Katholik you get the middle name from your pathe during your taufe.
Das stimmt nicht ganz. Ich bin Deutsxhe, Katholiken, getauft, aber habe keinen Zweitnamen
It is or was also very common in Germany
I proclaim you Janine Chirpingbirds. Appropriate and enchanting 💥
❤ you are such an awesome couple. ❤
I even have a third Name.
That's funny because it's very common in Germany to have a second name. 😂
My German mother had a middle name.. Whole birth name… Luzia Marliese Fuchs.. RIH momma
If you want to be extra fancy you can have multiple middle names 😜
Middle name make sense.. people from Spain have like 8 names
60% of Germans I know have middle names.
'US is a big country'
Im sure even in small countries people having the same and last name are very common
First name : Tapete middle name: Tapete Last name: Tapete 😂
Can middle names be used as middle names?
Im from Germany I have a middle name aswell
Do Germans like red nail polish? Is it a popular color or something?
There is sooooooooooooooo many people in the us with the same first and last name 😂
I'm Russian. And we haven't got middle name BUT!!! we have got something like middle name.. for example. Mandy Jacob Smith. Second name is my dad's name!! Amazing? Strange? Idk
patronym is the word you mean.
Lenin was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin because his father was named Ilya
Americans are also strange you put some random names as middle usually, we put our dads or moms name as middle always in my country
My mom has 2 middle names.
Einfach nur toll. Gruß aus 🇩🇪
In England ist das auch so das man einen 2ten Namen hat, bei uns heißt das taufname, mein ex mann heißt philip William, meine Tochter stacy Karoline!
I lived there for years & it wasn’t such an absurd concept. 🤷♂️
Its mainly used as an indicator how mad your parents are at you.
Es gibt viele Menschen in Deutschland die auch einen zweiten Vornamen haben.
My name is Umaro Antonio Fernando Do rosário Sambane, nice to meet u😊
😅❤😂
Dir ist aber schon klar, dass die meisten Deutschen genauso einen zweiten Vornamen haben, oftmals der Name vom Taufpaten bzw. von der Taufpatin.
She really thinks that there is nobody else on earth with the same name as hers..
Nur steht der Name nicht unbedingt in einem Dokument
She has a point.
In Deutschland haben doch auch viele einen Zweit oder sogar Drittnamen! Einige sogar noch mehr!