Male name
Werner
3,433 births (United States, 1880–2025), peaking in 1930. Expression number: 11.
Origin
Werner is the newer form of Wernher. Both were preceded in Old High German by the forms Warinheri and Werinher. In the first element of these names, either the name of the Germanic tribe of the Warni became mixed with the Germanic *warō (attentiveness), or it derives from warn or from warjan or werjan. The second part goes back to heri. Wern(h)er was already a very popular name in the Middle Ages (especially in southern Germany and in Switzerland) and remained extremely popular into the 1960s. The local veneration of Saint Werner of Oberwesel made it popular among the people in the Rhineland. In the 19th century, a large number of literary figures named Werner contributed to this first name being frequently given. A selection of these are Werner Stauffacher in Friedrich von Schiller's drama "Wilhelm Tell", Werner von Kiburg in Ludwig Uhland's tragedy "Ernst, Herzog von Schwaben", and Werner Kirchhofer in Joseph Victor von Scheffel's debut work "Der Trompeter von Säckingen".Translated by Arcanes from the German Wiktionary, entry “Werner”, text and translation under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In the United States
Peak in 1930: 93 births. 3,433 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given steadily, decade after decade, from the 1910s to the 1960s. It really came into use around 1912. It is still given: 46 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 17,341* | 1915–2025 | — |
| France | 1,200 | 1900–2025 | — |
| Austria | 1,138 | 1984–2025 | 54th in 1985 |
| Berlin | 256 | 2012–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; INSEE, Fichier des prénoms, Etalab Open Licence 2.0; Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
11
intuition and inspiration (master number)
5 + 5 + 9 + 5 + 5 + 9 = 38 → 11
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
1
initiative, independence, beginnings
5 + 5 = 10 → 1
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
1
initiative, independence, beginnings
5 + 9 + 5 + 9 = 28 → 1
- Digits missing from the name
- 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8
- Most frequent digit
- 5 · freedom, change, movement
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.