Werner - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 2 syll. wer-ner, we-rn-er ] The boy name Werner is pronounced WERNer ^KEY. Werner has its origins in the Germanic language, and it is used largely in Dutch, German, and Scandinavian. Two-element name from warin 'Warni, Warini, to protect' ; heri 'army, warrior'. Old forms of the name include the Germanic Guarin, the Germanic Warin, the Germanic Warinheri, and the Germanic Werinher. The first element of the given name is derived from a little known Germanic tribal name known as the Warni or Warini; the tribe existed before the 6th century. The tribal name originally meant 'to protect'.

Variations of the name include the French Garnier, the Italian Guarino, the Italian Guerino, the Italian Guerrino, the English, Hungarian, and Scandinavian Vern, the Hungarian and Scandinavian Verner, and the English Warner. The pet forms Werni (German), Wessel (Dutch, Frisian, and German), and Wetzel (German), and the spelling variant Wernher (German) are other forms of Werner.

Werner is uncommon as a baby name for boys. At the modest height of its usage in 1916, 0.009% of baby boys were named Werner. It ranked at #671 then. The baby name has since slipped in popularity, and is currently used only on a very light scale. Within all boy names in its group, Werner was nevertheless the most popular in 2007.

Baby names that sound like Werner include the German Wernher and the English Warner.

^KEY: English pronunciation for Werner: W as in "we (W.IY)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)"

A famous person named Werner is Werner Herzog, Filmmaker, born Werner Stipetic, 5 September 1942, Sachrang, Germany.

Popularity Trend
for Werner
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Werner
in 2007