German Names in English-speaking Countries
Names like Gretchen, Grettel or Lorelei, which are used in English-speaking countries, especially the US, and are qualified as German, are rather not registered as legal names in German-speaking countries. Gretchen and Gretel may appear in nicknaming as diminutive forms for Margaret(h)e. "Mädchen", like the actress Mädchen Amick, means girl in German and is therefore not used as a given name. Lorelei is a mythological creature.
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Famous quotes containing the words german, names and/or countries:
“I don’t want to shoot any Englishmen. I never saw one ‘til I came up here. But I suppose most of them never saw a German ‘til they came up here.”
—Maxwell Anderson (1888–1959)
“If marriages were made by putting all the men’s names into one sack and the women’s names into another, and having them taken out by a blindfolded child like lottery numbers, there would be just as high a percentage of happy marriages as we have here in England.... If you can tell me of any trustworthy method of selecting a wife, I shall be happy to make use of it.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Indeed, men never know how to love. nothing satisfies them. All they know is to dream, to imagine new duties, to look for new countries and new homes. While we women, we know that we must hasten to love, to share the same bed, hold hands, and fear absence. When we women love, we dream of nothing.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)