German is a boy name with a modern feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what German means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named German across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular German has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
German is a boy name of Latin origin meaning “brother, kinsman”. A Spanish form of Germain, from Latin germanus.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 10,295 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named German per year, United States (1882 to 2025). United States peaked in 1991 (304/yr).
German is an uncommon baby name in the United States. It was most common in 1991, when it ranked #1,269 nationally (given to 304 babies that year).
Carmen · Germaine · Carmon · Karmen · Carman · Gorman · Karmyn · Germain
Not sure if it's the one? The best way to know is to see if your partner loves it too. Swipe baby names with your partner and match on the ones you both ❤️, free, no account needed to start.
Find your name together →