The most popular Nazi names

Nazi names, this subject sounds more exciting than it is. The first names that were most often given in Germany from 1933 to 1945 are by and large the same as those that were common before and after. Only the first name Adolf was awarded noticeably more frequently in the years after 1933 than in previous years. This name was at the height of its popularity at the end of the 19th century and has been in a downward trend ever since, so that in the early 1930s it no longer belonged to the Top 50 of the most popular boy names. In 1933 the first name Adolf was in a leap up, but more than a Top 40 ranking was not possible.

In 1934, the name Horst was the most frequently assigned boy name in Nazi Germany. Some historians claim that this was because the propaganda of the National Socialists portrayed Horst Wessel as a martyr. I do not share this view. In fact, Horst appeared as a first name already at the beginning of the 20th century in appreciable numbers and became more popular from year to year in the following years – long before the alleged martyr’s death. Starting from 1934 fewer boys were called Horst from year to year. This trend corresponds to a completely normal fashion name career, the data for the name Günther, for example, looks almost exactly the same.

Nazi-Namen

By the way, Nordic first names – contrary to widespread prejudices – are not typical Nazi first names. On the contrary, they were expressly not wanted.

Besides the unwanted ones, there were also directories with first names desired by the Nazis, especially those of German or Germanic origin. I compared such a directory with my current first name collection (born in 2017) and found out which of the first names recommended by the Nazis are the most popular nowadays:

Mädchennamen Jungennamen
  1. Emma
  2. Lina
  3. Ella
  4. Ida
  5. Frieda
  6. Rosa
  7. Karla
  8. Selma
  9. Hermine
  10. Wilma
  11. Mathilde
  12. Friederike
  13. Hedda
  14. Erna
  15. Ada
  16. Irma
  17. Adele
  18. Erika
  19. Henrike
  20. Minna
  21. Wanda
  22. Hilde
  23. Karoline
  24. Wilhelmine
  25. Amalie
  26. Edith
  27. Hedwig
  28. Elvira
  29. Gerda
  30. Thekla
  31. Roberta
  32. Alberta
  33. Berta
  34. Olga
  35. Ottilie
  36. Senta
  1. Oskar
  2. Karl
  3. Fritz
  4. Bruno
  5. Leopold
  6. Franz
  7. Richard
  8. Ludwig
  9. Ferdinand
  10. Friedrich
  11. Hugo
  12. Benno
  13. Konrad
  14. Leonhard
  15. Gustav
  16. Kurt
  17. Willi
  18. Robert
  19. Edgar
  20. Wilhelm
  21. Erwin
  22. Otto
  23. Albert
  24. Henning
  25. Alfred
  26. Armin
  27. Alwin
  28. Lutz
  29. Eduard
  30. Egon
  31. Edwin
  32. Heinrich
  33. Edward
  34. Alois
  35. Erich
  36. Falk
  37. Kuno
  38. Gero
  39. Hagen
  40. Frank
  41. Arnold
  42. Olaf
  43. Rupert
  44. Hermann
  45. Hubert
  46. Wolfgang
  47. Rudolf
  48. Timm
  49. Knut
  50. Ernst
  51. Harro
  52. Roland
  53. Baldur
  54. Bernhard
  55. Herbert
  56. Manfred
  57. Ralf
  58. Albrecht
  59. Bernd
  60. Bodo
  61. Friedolin
  62. Rainer

In addition some other first names with “foreign” origin had a chance to be recommended by the Nazis. It was important that they had been common in Germany for a long time. I also compared these names with my current collection:

Mädchennamen Jungennamen
  1. Anna
  2. Marie
  3. Johanna
  4. Charlotte
  5. Hanna
  6. Laura
  7. Sophie
  8. Paula
  9. Klara
  10. Isabella
  11. Pauline
  12. Luise
  13. Eva
  14. Katharina
  15. Toni
  16. Elisabeth
  17. Martha
  18. Lilli
  19. Viktoria
  20. Franziska
  21. Josephine
  22. Lotte
  23. Helene
  24. Alma
  25. Emilie
  26. Lene
  27. Elsa
  28. Elise
  29. Alice
  30. Henriette
  31. Veronika
  32. Julie
  33. Florentine
  34. Valeria
  35. Käthe
  36. Lieselotte
  37. Annemarie
  38. Ruth
  39. Leonore
  40. Margarete
  41. Dorothea
  42. Anneliese
  43. Josefa
  44. Liesbeth
  45. Dora
  46. Liese
  47. Lore
  48. Barbara
  49. Angela
  50. Stefanie
  51. Agnes
  52. Gabriele
  53. Angelika
  54. Fanni
  55. Therese
  56. Bettina
  57. Grete
  58. Magdalene
  59. Marianne
  60. Christine
  61. Christel
  62. Irene
  63. Susanne
  64. Gretel
  1. Paul
  2. Felix
  3. Emil
  4. Anton
  5. Max
  6. Theo
  7. Moritz
  8. Leo
  9. Jakob
  10. Alexander
  11. Philipp
  12. Simon
  13. Julius
  14. Johannes
  15. Johann
  16. Florian
  17. Benedikt
  18. Theodor
  19. Sebastian
  20. Michael
  21. Christian
  22. Matthias
  23. Josef
  24. Lorenz
  25. Martin
  26. Andreas
  27. Thomas
  28. Georg
  29. Gregor
  30. Stefan
  31. Artur
  32. Hans
  33. Peter
  34. Christoph
  35. Viktor
  36. Veit
  37. August
  38. Vinzenz
  39. Klemens
  40. Immanuel
  41. Kaspar
  42. Sepp
  43. Joachim