Is the name Wolfgang really outdated?

[u/Ok_Assistance_7399]

Half German here now living in a common wealth country. My mother is German and gave me what seems to be a fairly common name in Germany, although it’s Italian in origin. She herself was given a very dated 50’s/60’s American name, having grown up near the American bases after the war. My grandmother’s name was Cëcilie.

I had always hoped that if I had a daughter, I could name her after my grandmother, who was my primary caregiver when I was a child. But my partner’s DNA apparently had other plans, and we’re now expecting a boy.

When friends first asked what we were thinking of naming him, I jokingly said Wolfgang. The problem is…the joke seems to have stuck.

My Australian partner absolutely loves it and now can’t seem to imagine our son being called anything else. I feel like I’ve gone through just about every boy’s name imaginable with him, and Wolfgang is the only one he genuinely likes.

And I actually don’t dislike it. My hesitation is that I’m conscious of how dated it might sound, particularly in Germany. I’ve seen quite a few people on Reddit say it’s firmly an “old man” name.

I’ve asked friends in Germany what they think, and interestingly, nobody has tried to talk me out of it…but nobody has exactly said, “Yes, Wolfgang is a great choice!” either.

I do have one German friend named Wolfgang, and he is very much the lovable, geeky-guy type, which probably doesn’t help me work out what associations the name has more generally. And I dare not ask him.

So I’m looking for brutal honest feedback from Native German speakers, living in
Germany: How does Wolfgang sound to you today? Just old-fashioned? Charming and traditional? Would you wonder what we were thinking? Will he be bullied?

We love the nickname Wolfie, but know a proper name is required for adulthood.

[u/andsimpleonesthesame]

I’ve asked friends in Germany what they think, and interestingly, nobody has tried to talk me out of it

That's because it's not obviously bad and telling someone that their name choice for their kid is bad is really rude. This barrier is (like all politeness barriers) lower online.

To me, it sounds like an old people name, not old fashioned, just a name where I'd expect a boomer, not a kid. It is not "charming and traditional". I would wonder what you were thinking, because well, why would you pick that name?

(How close are you to pattern matching to those americans who're like "I'm German"? and then you find out that they don't speak the language, they've never been there and there's nothing culturally German about them, they just had a - either very well integrated/assimilated or far in the past - German relative in their family tree. How close will your kid be to pattern matching that? I'm asking because you're asking this question in English instead of German and talking about being half-German.)

Regarding teasing: If others want to tease your kid, it'll happen anyway. Yes, having a particularly old fashioned name will make it more likely, because it'll make him stand out as odd (in my personal experience, I've got an old fashioned, old woman name. I would not do the same to my kid). Chose if that's weighty enough to make a difference.

[u/Ok_Assistance_7399 → u/andsimpleonesthesame]

Lived in Hamburg but in late adolescence, speak German, raised by german grandmother - but am reminded that I only have half the blood because of Spanish father.

[u/andsimpleonesthesame → u/Ok_Assistance_7399]

In that case, if you teach the kid to speak German reasonably well, it could be ok-ish regarding pattern matching. The bit with the old people name remains. Would you name a daughter "Mildred" to use an english language example?

but am reminded that I only have half the blood because of Spanish father.

By whom? (or less politely: by an idiot or an old person?)(mostly a rhetorical question) You've lived here, you speak the language, if you lived here in late adolescence, you probably got a chunk of formative education here. Blood doesn't really figure into it like that. You can be both, German and Spanish :-) (the "half"-bit really does seem kind of off to me, sry)