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:
“The German mind, may it live! Almost invisible as a mind, it finally manifests itself assertively as a conviction.”
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“And even my sense of identity was wrapped in a namelessness often hard to penetrate, as we have just seen I think. And so on for all the other things which made merry with my senses. Yes, even then, when already all was fading, waves and particles, there could be no things but nameless things, no names but thingless names. I say that now, but after all what do I know now about then, now when the icy words hail down upon me, the icy meanings, and the world dies too, foully named.”
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“We are the sons and daughters of the world they saved. [Now is our moment] to make common cause with other countries to ensure a world of peace and prosperity for yet another generation.”
—Bill Clinton (b. 1946)