Bennimilia, Laurelie or Jisildis: Names are becoming increasingly diverse

Wiesbaden. For most parents, the child's first name should be something very special. Books are turned over or internet portals with first names are clicked - and their own imagination is also used. "You can already see that parents put more energy into the choice of their first name than before," says the name expert Frauke Rüdebusch from the Society for German Language (GfDS) in Wiesbaden.

The result: there are more and more first names. "We have almost ten million individual names in our database, and every year there are a good million new names," she says.

Newly created first names such as Bennimilia, Jisildis, Julix, Laurelie or Sonek, for example. "They sound like names and you can usually see whether it is a name for a girl or a boy," explains the linguist. This is an important prerequisite for the recognition of a fantasy name. Because first names are not always included in the list of the registry offices: If in doubt, the name researchers of the GFDS are asked for advice.

The experts advise names like Lucifer, Borussia or Kiddo from

you check-and sometimes a rejection is recommended, says Rüdebusch. For example at Kiddo, Maybee, advice and churasko. In total, between five and ten percent of the inquiries were not recommended. "We rejected Lamborghini. Just like Corvette, Borussia and Lucifer. Or names like König, Graf or Prince," says Rüdebusch. In principle, noble names were not possible. With around half of the rejections, however, a compromise is drawn up with the parents. On average, the number of names that are only awarded once a year is five percent.