German
German was given to 112 boys in 2025, #1,541 among boys’ names; 10,295 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 9,490 Americans named German and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (92% of everyone recorded); the median is 27 years old and half are between 17 and 37.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of German by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does German mean?
Wiktionary, English section
German is “a male given name from Russian.” Its etymology gives the sense “the peoples of Germānia” (Germānī).
From Latin Germānus, Germānī (“the peoples of Germānia”), as distinct from Gauls (in the writings of Caesar and Tacitus), and of uncertain ultimate origin (possibly Celtic/Gaulish). Not related to german (“closely related”) or germane (from the Latin adjective germānus, through Old French). Attested since at least 1520. Replaced the older terms Almain and Dutch (from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz) in English. Besides cognates of German, Almain, and Dutch, two other categories of words for the Germans in other languages are cognates of Saxon and descendants of Proto-Slavic *němьcь; see those entries for more. The surname is generally from the noun, though sometimes confused with Herman, Hermann under Russian influence. As a German surname, Americanized from Germann. Compare Germán, Germain, Jerman.
/ˈd͡ʒɝ.mən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is German?
#1,541 among boys’ names, 2025
German fell from #1,193 in 2015 to #1,541 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 80.9 to 65.6 per million.
304 babies in 1991, the peak
German peaked in 1991, when 304 boys were given it, #581 among boys’ names. The 112 births of 2025 are 37% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 112 | #1,541 | 0.07 |
| 2024 | 102 | #1,653 | 0.06 |
| 2023 | 123 | #1,467 | 0.07 |
| 2022 | 124 | #1,460 | 0.07 |
| 2021 | 115 | #1,532 | 0.07 |
| 2020 | 121 | #1,429 | 0.07 |
| 2019 | 132 | #1,357 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 161 | #1,183 | 0.09 |
| 2017 | 152 | #1,209 | 0.08 |
| 2016 | 171 | #1,130 | 0.09 |
Every recorded year (118)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 155 | #1,193 | 0.08 |
| 2014 | 161 | #1,167 | 0.08 |
| 2013 | 150 | #1,194 | 0.08 |
| 2012 | 166 | #1,114 | 0.09 |
| 2011 | 150 | #1,182 | 0.08 |
| 2010 | 187 | #1,041 | 0.10 |
| 2009 | 215 | #945 | 0.11 |
| 2008 | 247 | #862 | 0.12 |
| 2007 | 215 | #920 | 0.10 |
| 2006 | 237 | #849 | 0.12 |
| 2005 | 251 | #780 | 0.13 |
| 2004 | 216 | #824 | 0.11 |
| 2003 | 266 | #707 | 0.13 |
| 2002 | 226 | #762 | 0.12 |
| 2001 | 274 | #664 | 0.14 |
| 2000 | 255 | #691 | 0.13 |
| 1999 | 217 | #741 | 0.11 |
| 1998 | 210 | #760 | 0.11 |
| 1997 | 251 | #654 | 0.13 |
| 1996 | 258 | #648 | 0.14 |
| 1995 | 246 | #668 | 0.13 |
| 1994 | 252 | #655 | 0.13 |
| 1993 | 238 | #666 | 0.12 |
| 1992 | 243 | #663 | 0.12 |
| 1991 | 304 | #581 | 0.15 |
| 1990 | 269 | #612 | 0.13 |
| 1989 | 269 | #594 | 0.13 |
| 1988 | 147 | #778 | 0.08 |
| 1987 | 120 | #853 | 0.06 |
| 1986 | 105 | #889 | 0.06 |
| 1985 | 120 | #812 | 0.06 |
| 1984 | 117 | #808 | 0.06 |
| 1983 | 125 | #781 | 0.07 |
| 1982 | 116 | #823 | 0.06 |
| 1981 | 123 | #785 | 0.07 |
| 1980 | 107 | #858 | 0.06 |
| 1979 | 105 | #844 | 0.06 |
| 1978 | 88 | #924 | 0.05 |
| 1977 | 87 | #910 | 0.05 |
| 1976 | 77 | #952 | 0.05 |
| 1975 | 89 | #881 | 0.06 |
| 1974 | 71 | #971 | 0.05 |
| 1973 | 75 | #932 | 0.05 |
| 1972 | 64 | #1,010 | 0.04 |
| 1971 | 52 | #1,140 | 0.03 |
| 1970 | 58 | #1,073 | 0.03 |
| 1969 | 54 | #1,056 | 0.03 |
| 1968 | 35 | #1,295 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 29 | #1,420 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 56 | #976 | 0.03 |
| 1965 | 45 | #1,116 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 32 | #1,390 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 41 | #1,216 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 23 | #1,687 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 27 | #1,557 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 29 | #1,498 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 23 | #1,681 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 36 | #1,289 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 21 | #1,766 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 32 | #1,366 | 0.02 |
| 1955 | 22 | #1,656 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 23 | #1,607 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 16 | #1,992 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 17 | #1,888 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 11 | #2,420 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 11 | #2,367 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 7 | #3,117 | under 0.01 |
| 1948 | 13 | #2,153 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 12 | #2,289 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 14 | #1,977 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 11 | #2,170 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 7 | #2,957 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 9 | #2,625 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 8 | #2,791 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 9 | #2,546 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 9 | #2,554 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 8 | #2,693 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 5 | #3,722 | under 0.01 |
| 1937 | 6 | #3,292 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 13 | #1,993 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 8 | #2,793 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 7 | #3,104 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 9 | #2,614 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 9 | #2,714 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 9 | #2,733 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 18 | #1,778 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 15 | #2,033 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 11 | #2,564 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 7 | #3,588 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 13 | #2,342 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 10 | #2,822 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 10 | #2,894 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 14 | #2,266 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 13 | #2,388 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 12 | #2,542 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 12 | #2,512 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 9 | #2,963 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 8 | #3,213 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 12 | #2,339 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 18 | #1,723 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 16 | #1,820 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 10 | #2,163 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 10 | #1,855 | 0.02 |
| 1911 | 5 | #1,838 | 0.02 |
| 1910 | 5 | #1,683 | 0.03 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,113 | 0.05 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,277 | 0.04 |
| 1882 | 5 | #995 | 0.04 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is German a boy’s or a girl’s name?
German has been given almost only to boys: 5 girls in 118 years of records.
Girls and boys named German: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named German, and how old are they?
9,490 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 92% of the 10,295 Americans ever recorded as German. The median German alive today is 27 years old; half are between 17 and 37.
The 2020 Census counted 24,881 people named German (106 women and girls, 24,775 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 8,985 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.8 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 30 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 285 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 974 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,920 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,520 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,770 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named German born?
The states with the most babies named German are California, Texas and Arizona, with 82% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Arizona is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 23 | #973 | 2.6× |
| Texas | 22 | #1,047 | 1.8× |
| Arizona | 10 | #649 | 2.6× |
| North Carolina | 7 | #1,071 | 0.4× |
| Florida | 5 | #1,929 | 0.8× |
Where German is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, German is most over-represented in California: since 1910 it was given 2.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of German with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 11,329 babies since 1880, German is the most given (91% of them). In 2025 it was given to 112 of their 119 babies (94%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as German
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about German and names like it
- Compare German and GermainBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sGerman peaked in 1991.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named German since 1910.
- Russian namesWiktionary’s origin for German: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1991The year the most babies were named German.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named German alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with GMost given first.