German Names that Come Out of American Mouths

There’s a school-of-thought that says if you can speak at least one foreign language than you have the basic foundation to learn several more. So in theory, because I speak two languages I should have been able to pick up the basics of the German language. After returning from Germany on business, I can tell you that German has to be one of the most difficult languages I ever tried to learn. After six months of trying in advance of my trip, I was lucky to just barely grasp the pronounciation of some surnames.

Many German surnames have their origins dating back to the Germanic middle ages. And German names - like many other nationalities - no doubt follow this same evolution. This doesn’t make pronunciation of German names or even German baby names any easier. But at least there’s an historical context to place my lack of diction skills. The process of forming German family names began around the year 1100 and extended through 1600. The development of German names owed everything to a person’s social class and demographics. For example, first names identified specific persons. Over time the first name began to be applied to the bearer's whole family. I don’t believe this process exists in America. For example, I consider my demographic “Poor”,  yet my first name - thankfully - is not “Poor Gary”.