How do you say Name in German?

Your name is one of the first things you share when meeting someone - so it makes sense to learn how to say name in German right away. This word plays a big role in everyday interactions, official forms, and cultural etiquette.

The German word for name is der Name. It’s masculine, and the plural is die Namen. If you’re still building your sense for gender and article patterns, watch my gender video lesson for a fast and clear explanation.

Name is one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German and shows up in everything from introductions to bureaucracy.

Let’s look at how it behaves in the four grammatical cases:

Nominative:
Der Name ist schwer auszusprechen.
The name is hard to pronounce.

Accusative:
Ich habe den Namen vergessen.
I forgot the name.

Dative:
Ich helfe dir mit dem Namen.
I’ll help you with the name.

Genitive:
Die Bedeutung des Namens ist interessant.
The meaning of the name is interesting.

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You’ll often hear Name with verbs like heißen (to be called), nennen (to name), vergessen (to forget), aufschreiben (to write down), and kennen (to know).
Phrases include:

• Wie heißt du? / Wie heißen Sie? - What’s your name? (common informal/formal questions)
  Wie ist dein Name? - What’s your name?

• Mein Name ist Müller. - My name is Müller.

• Hast du ihren Namen gehört? - Did you catch her name?

Adjectives and descriptions that pair with Name include schön (beautiful), lang (long), kompliziert (complicated), selten (rare), or geläufig (common). You’ll also find Vorname (first name) and Nachname (last name) as important related words.