We watched The Sound of Music this past week, and a surprising number of the names sounded good to me. Liesl is a name Paul and I briefly considered for Elizabeth, but we didn’t like the way it rhymed with diesel, and the spelling/pronunciation issues were past our preference threshold. Still, I like the name. Louisa, another sister, has similar sounds but seems easier to use.
Georg (GAY-org) and Friedrich (FREE-drick) work very well when translated to George and Frederick.
Brigitta, Marta, and Gretl all appealed to me, though I’d spell Gretl as Gretel instead. I’m not sure I can get past the Hansel and Gretel association, but I did for the duration of the movie. One of the nuns is named Margaretta, which I also like.
Max was Max before that name sounded good again. And the Baroness’s name is Elsa!
I love Marta. It’s name that’s been on my mind recently. One drawback– in the area of the US I live in, the accent is such that I think when people say the name in a rush they will make it “MAR-duh”, which I don’t like at all. The crispness of MAR-tah is what appeals to me. But then when I say it without thinking, I make the the “t” into a much softer “d”…
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? How do you say Marta out loud– quickly and without thinking too hard?
Honestly I said it aloud several times after reading this comment and assumed I would say it right, but I said Mardah at least two of the 4 times. If you hate that pronoucation and it will bug you each time, I would guess Marta isn’t for you.
Well, maybe, maybe not. My22 yo niece is Tatiana, and when she was a baby, I thought her nn, Tati, would get slurred to “Toddy”. Maybe it does, for some folks, but Tati with two nice crisp t’s is what I usually hear, and she never complains about people saying it wrong.
Love, love, love this post! Sound of Music was my favorite movie as a child. I begged my husband to name our daughter Liesl or Louisa. And the other three daughters’ names were on my list as well. He vetoed them all. Now, as punishment I like to think, it’s my two year old’s favorite movie; she watches it constantly. I did not know the Baroness was named Elsa! We both agreed on that name before the Frozen phenom, the Sound of Music connection makes me a little more sad that it’s become such a craze for my child’s generation. Guess it will join Liesl and Louisa on the future doll name list, sigh!
What about poor Kurt?!
Louisa has been growing on me lately. It hasn’t quite made the official list yet, but it could soon.
My daughter’s name is Louisa, so obviously I’m a fan (although for some reason I thought the character was spelled Luisa, and I see that I’m wrong). I went to school with a Liesel, and have a positive association with that name, so that would work for me.
MARTA is the public transportation system in Atlanta, so unfortunately I think that ruins it for me.
In case you are interested here are the real names of the Von Trapp children. The names were changed for the movie:
Rupert, 1911–1992; Agathe, 1913– ; Maria, 1914– ; Werner, 1915– ; Hedwig, 1917–1972; Johanna, 1919–1994; and Martina, 1921–1952.
Then the names of the children that Maria and Georg had together were:
Rosmarie, 1928– ; Eleonore, 1931– ; and Johannes, 1939–
With names like Werner and Hedwig I can see why they changed them. ;)
I love, love, love that movie. I just watched it with my seven year old and he was so impressed I knew all the songs :D
I love Louisa and it’s on my long list for #3, due in June.
You actually omitted my favorite names from the movie, I really like Kurt and Rolf. I do like Leisl, Brigitta, and Marta as well.
I was also thinking about how they didn’t use most of the real Van Trapp family names and went with German options more to tolerable to the American public. (I do understand not having one of the children named Maria despite the real life situation hough as that would have been confusing.)
Of the real Van Trapp family names, I really like Rupert, Johanna, Martina, and Eleonore.
Marta always reminds me of martyr – is that just me? I went to school for 5 years with a girl with this name and never got over the association in my head.
This movie is one of my favorites (julie Andrews is so wonderful), and I loved your write up on your main website too. Louisa has been on my girl list since I was little (ever since I became obsessed with Little Women). It is on our very short list for baby #3. However, I’m a little concerned about possible pronunciation problems too. I love Louisa pronounced Lou-ee-za, but worry it will be pronounce Lou-ee-SA. It seems like such a minor difference, but it really has been sticking in my brain.
Never fear! My 9-year old daughter Louisa is often called Lou-ee-za. We actually prefer Lou-ee-SA as our last name begins with a Za (it gets all run-together too much when said as Lou-ee-za). I prefer the “s” sound better as it sounds softer IMO. Lou-ee-za might as well be Louise. Many people don’t distinguish a difference in the pronuniciations, but I feel like I hear ‘”za” more than “sa”.
I’ve always love Liesl, but I hear it in a lispy child voice as “Lethal” and I can’t get that out of my head.
I like the names Louisa and Brigitta. My cousin, for many years of watching the movie, was hearing Georg as “Gaylord” (?) and Kurt as Kirk. She was surprised when I told her what the names really were.
I… I am just now learning his name is not Gaylord. Hmm. (At least I knew Kurt was Kurt?)
I think maybe my cousin heard Kirk as Kurt because it was one of her favorite names for a boy. She never did use it because all her kids were girls. I can’t remember now how they pronounce Kurt in the movie. German pronunciation is different than English, it’s more like Kort in German than Curt.
Gretl is actually an Austrian nickname for Margarethe. So you could call a daughter Margaretta (or Margarethe or whatever spelling you want) and call her Gretel when she is little. :) Similarly, Liesl is an Austrian nickname for Elizabeth, so you kind-of already have a Liesl! :D