German Name - Order of Names and Use of Articles

Order of Names and Use of Articles

The Nachname is put after the Vorname. In the rural use of several regions where heavy dialect is spoken (i.e. Bavaria, Saxony, the Palatinate or the Saarland), the order is reversed, e.g. "der Mühlbach Klaus" instead of "Klaus Mühlbach". The definite article is always added in this style of naming. Especially in these regions, it is also the usual administrative way, but with a comma; the said person would appear in documents as "Mühlbach, Klaus" or even, with a title or profession "Mühlbach, Klaus, Dr./OLt/Bäcker".

Except for Southern Germany, usage of the definite article with the name outside of dialect is uncommon, and considered a mistake in standard High German. It is considered familiar language, but not as a mark of rough, rural manners as in French. It is used especially when talking of and/or with children, but also in some other situations. E.g., "Ich bin der Nils", or even "Ich gab der Eva eine Süßigkeit". Respectively, these sentences mean, "I am Nils", and "I gave Eva a sweet". Once again, such usage varies and is optional, and is often used in clarification or in emphasis.

In Austria, the definite article is always used in informal spoken language, but most of the time not in very formal or written language.

In some dialects (such as those spoken in the Western Palatinate and parts of the Rhineland), the article used with women's and girls' names is not the female, but the neuter article. This is because the German word for "girl", Mädchen, is a neuter noun, due to the diminutive suffix -chen.