Speaking German is hard. It can be even harder when you have to communicate on the phone in German and when you are asked to spell your foreign name. Even when you are pretty sure you pronounce the alphabets correctly, the person on the other end always seems to be confused and gets your name completely wrong.
So how do we get it right?
The rule
Most German spell their name with the help of other vocabularies which consist of mostly old and well-known German names. For example, when your name is Stefan, you can spell your name in this way: Samuel, Theodor, Emil, Friedrich, Anton, Nordpol.
List
Here is a list of the commonly used names or vocabularies. You do not have to memorize the whole list. Remembering those that can help to spell your name will do the magic. 🙂
| A | Anton |
| Ä | Ärger |
| B | Berta |
| C | Cäsar |
| Ch | Charlotte |
| D | Dora |
| E | Emil |
| F | Friedrich |
| G | Gustav |
| H | Heinrich |
| I | Ida |
| J | Julius |
| K | Kaufmann |
| L | Ludwig |
| M | Martha |
| N | Nordpol |
| O | Otto |
| Ö | Ökonom |
| P | Paula |
| Q | Quelle |
| R | Richard |
| S | Samuel |
| Sch | Schule |
| ß | Eszett |
| T | Theodor |
| U | Ulrich |
| Ü | Übermut |
| V | Viktor |
| W | Wilhelm |
| X | Xanthippe |
| Y | Ypsilon |
| Z | Zacharias |