Well, it depends on what you mean when you say recently.
Maja: commonly used in Germany since 1944, first popular between 1972 and 1977, then again in 2003.
Marie: commonly used in Germany for over a century, has always been popular since the 1890s with the exception of the years 1950 to 1960.
I agree with you that we should use
German names but as I perceive it, we do. Many "modern"
German names are not seen as such by foreigners because very often they'd like to see stereotypical
German names like
Hans,
Grete,
Friedrich and
Hildegard.
However, popular names like
Johanna,
Moritz,
Florian &
Katharina are
German classics, too.
Concerning the last question: "Why can't the
German be
German?"
Only in the last years,
German parents have had the "courage" to use certain old
German names again. Some of them had been frowned upon for decades after WWII. Being too
German was everything but trendy.
This message was edited 12/19/2009, 8:29 AM