The problem with "German" Names

Some comment needs to be included here on the problem of German names. Until recently double names were almost unknown in English and American usage but since the seventeenth century it was a common practice in German speaking areas to give a child a double name. Unlike the contemporary American custom of giving a child a middle name that is seldom used, the German custom was to put the commonly used name nearest the family name. The "first name" was not the primary name but was a prefix, used only on formal occasions.

It has been mistakenly assumed by some American researchers that the prefix name indicates the name of the child's father or mother but this was not its purpose. The prefix "Hans" or"Johann" (both meaning John) was almost universally used for boys, while "Maria" or "Anna" and occasionally, "Eva" was used for girls. Where a boy's name was intended to be "Hans" the full formal name was "Johannes". Since many common German names were of pagan origin, the use of "Hans" or "Maria" as a prefix guaranteed that the child had a proper Christian name at baptism. This was an ancient custom and was almost superstitiously followed. In rarer instances other first names were used in double names, the most frequently used being Philipp and Georg for boys and Margaretha, Catherina or Elisabetha for girls. In these cases it might be to honor a relative or friend and the first name might be used as the common name. However, as a general rule, especially if the first name is Hans or Johann, Anna or Maria, it is merely a prefix and most likely was dropped completely or converted to a middle name in American usage when Germans emigrated.

Reference for above citation: http://www.bellcountypubliclibraries.org/crm/hammons/germany.html