Traditional or old world Germanic names have two parts. One part
indicates the gender and the other the characteristic of the
person. For example, Adelbert or Albert is composed of adel
meaning noble and a derivation of beracht meaning bright or
shining. Given names are generally gender specific. Male names
cannot be used for females and vice versa. The only exception to
this rule is "Maria" which can be used as a male second name as
in Erich Maria. German children are given one or many pre-names
(vornames). Only one of these names however is used as their
main name or call name (rufname). Parents choose a name because
they like it or they may name a child after a relative.
Religious catholics frequently give saints names as secondary
names. Some combinations of male first and second names such as
Hans-Joseph are traditionally hyphenated. The maximum number of
first names is five. Germany has very strict naming laws. Names
must be known as a human names. For example, pet names, common
nouns, place names and i