So, this just happened in a café I was in.
At the table next to mine sat a group of 3 women who spoke in English with an American accent. I'm just mentioning that because Germany has strict laws on what you can name your child, so I don't think such a discussion would be had by a German.
One had a small toddler. I'm not good with guessing toddler ages, but she was crawling and shakily trying to stand. She came crawling under my table so the mother came over to pick her up and exchanged a few words. She told me her name was Thalia. I said that's a nice name.
For those who don't know, Thalia is the greek muse of comedy and poetry. It is also the name of a big bookstore chain in Germany.
Some ten minutes later I hear the mother talk about how they chose the name. And I kid you not, the explanation was:
She liked Tabea. Her husband liked Delia. So they "invented" the name T(h?)alia as a compromise. She later found out that it's also the name of a German bookstore chain and found it funny. She even made a joke about how her daughter is named after a bookstore now, so I find it highly unlikely she knew about the greek muse.
So TL:DR - Parents think they are clever and making a "new" potential tragedeigh, end up reinventing ancient greek name.
Germany has strict laws on what you can name a child?
Yes, basically it has to be a real name. If you choose a name that isn't common you have to prove that it's a name and not a made up word. That can be for example by providing examples of people with that name or historical documents that show it's a person's name.
Also, you can't name your child something that could lead to ridicule or otherwise harm the child. So even if "Penis" is a perfectly normal name in your language, you wouldn't be allowed to register a child with that name here.
Fascinating. I've never heard of a law like this. Thanks for explaining!
But all names are made up words.
Hey buddy, I didn't make the rules, take it up with the Bundesamt für Justiz!
Some words are more made up than others
I know you meant "all words are made up" but I'm struggling to think of a name that's not based (either translated, transliterated, corrupted, ellided or borrowed) on a word in a pre-existing language.
Does this mean that Germany is totally reliant on importing new names from other countries, as there would be no domestic production?
That is correct, and it started way back when. The majority of modern german names is jewish, greek or latin in origin. For example Johann, Maria, Thomas, Viktor and Sebastian.
And every couple of generations we find an older stockpile by chance and suddenly very old german names are in circulation again and suddenly between all the Tims and Jans and Mias and Sandras there is a new Karl, Erika, Reinhard and Ulrich.
Are the Germans aware that all words are made up?
Have you ever heard German? Half their words are just other words smashed together to make new ones.
Sad Nazi noises
Oh wow. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be allowed.
A lot of countries do. Denmark famously has a list of 7000 pre-approved names and if you want to use something else you need to file forms.
Wow! I've never heard of that. Why did that come about?
X Æ A-12 MuskOh yeah, syntax error. Poor child.
My personal theory is that every piece of name related legislation was introduced by a backbench politician named Hitler Slobodan bin Laden or something but I don't actually know that.
Too many dumb people trying to name their kids Khaleesi.
That's allowed, Khaleesi is a legal name in Germany, the naming kaw is way less strict than people think.
Khaleesi as a name is not "Detrimental to the child's best interests"