German Team Names

Five German team names a press, each a German word or saying with its meaning in English.

German Team Names

Dies und dasThis and that.
Wer rastet, der rostetYou snooze, you lose.
Die AmeisenThe ants.
Lange Rede, kurzer SinnLong story short.
Das NordlichtThe northern lights.

How it works

These German team names are words and sayings of the German language, not the names of German clubs. Five come at a press, from Die Dachse to Ratzfatz, each with its meaning in English underneath.

Read the full guide

Good German team names by set

Animals are plurals with their article: Die Luchse (the lynxes), Die Murmeltiere (the marmots) and Die Eisvögel (the kingfishers). Strength, speed and weather has Der Rückenwind (the tailwind), Der Endspurt (the final sprint) and Der Volltreffer (the bullseye). German class or club has Die Bücherwürmer (the bookworms) and Die Umlaute (the umlauts).

Sayings and funny words

Short sayings are printed whole: Hals- und Beinbruch (break a leg), Kopf hoch (chin up) and Weiter so (keep it up). Funny German words has Krimskrams (odds and ends), Purzelbaum (a somersault), Drahtesel (a bicycle) and Fuchsteufelswild (hopping mad).

Questions and answers

Why do most names start with Der, Die or Das?

A German noun has a gender, and its article shows it. The article here is the one for the gender the word's Wiktionary entry gives; a plural takes Die. Sayings and the Funny German words set are printed without one.

Are the umlauts part of the name?

Yes. Each name is spelled as its Wiktionary entry spells it, with the umlaut and the ß where the entry has them; this page capitalizes the first letter of every name: Die Gämsen, Die Waschbären, Ohne Fleiß kein Preis.

Are these the names of real German teams?

None was copied from a club or a national side. The list was compared with Wikipedia's lists of national football team nicknames, and a name whose Wikipedia page is a company, a film, a book or a band was removed.

Where do the meanings come from?

Each word was looked up on 2026-10-04 in the German section of the English Wiktionary, a plural through its singular. The line under the name gives that meaning, reworded. Words without an entry were left out.

All 126 names

Animals 27

Die Ameisen The ants.
Die Bussarde The buzzards.
Die Dachse The badgers.
Die Einhörner The unicorns.
Die Eisvögel The kingfishers.
Die Faultiere The sloths.
Die Fledermäuse The bats.
Die Frösche The frogs.
Die Gämsen The chamois.
Die Greife The griffins.
Die Habichte The goshawks.
Die Hornissen The hornets.
Die Luchse The lynxes.
Die Möwen The gulls.
Die Murmeltiere The marmots.
Die Raben The ravens.
Die Rentiere The reindeer.
Die Robben The seals.
Die Schwalben The swallows.
Die Seehunde The seals.
Die Spechte The woodpeckers.
Die Steinböcke The ibexes.
Die Tintenfische The squids.
Die Turmfalken The kestrels.
Die Uhus The eagle owls.
Die Waschbären The raccoons.
Die Wildschweine The wild boars.

Strength, speed and weather 22

Das Gewitter The thunderstorm.
Das Lauffeuer The wildfire.
Das Nordlicht The northern lights.
Der Donner The thunder.
Der Durchbruch The breakthrough.
Der Eisberg The iceberg.
Der Endspurt The final sprint.
Der Gipfel The summit.
Der Gletscher The glacier.
Der Kampfgeist The fighting spirit.
Der Mut The courage.
Der Orkan The hurricane.
Der Regenbogen The rainbow.
Der Rückenwind The tailwind.
Der Schneesturm The snowstorm.
Der Schwung The momentum.
Der Sonnenaufgang The sunrise.
Der Tatendrang The zest for action.
Der Volltreffer The bullseye.
Die Ausdauer The endurance.
Die Schnelligkeit The speed.
Die Sternschnuppe The shooting star.

German class or club 25

Das Fernweh The longing for far places.
Das Fingerspitzengefühl The sure touch, tact.
Das Wörterbuch The dictionary.
Der Verein The club.
Der Wortschatz The vocabulary.
Der Zusammenhalt The solidarity.
Die Bindestriche The hyphens.
Die Brieffreunde The pen pals.
Die Bücherwürmer The bookworms.
Die Doppelpunkte The colons.
Die Gemeinschaft The community.
Die Glückspilze The lucky ones.
Die Hausaufgaben The homework.
Die Landsleute The compatriots.
Die Leseratten The bookworms.
Die Nachteulen The night owls.
Die Naschkatzen The people with a sweet tooth.
Die Neulinge The newcomers.
Die Ohrwürmer The earworms.
Die Quasselstrippen The chatterboxes.
Die Spaßvögel The jokers.
Die Sprichwörter The proverbs.
Die Umlaute The umlauts.
Die Wanderlust The wanderlust.
Die Wortspiele The puns.

Short sayings 27

Ach so Oh, I see.
Alles klar All right.
Auf geht's Let's go.
Bis bald See you soon.
Dies und das This and that.
Eile mit Weile Haste makes waste.
Ende gut, alles gut All's well that ends well.
Gern geschehen You're welcome.
Gute Nacht Good night.
Guten Morgen Good morning.
Hals- und Beinbruch Break a leg.
Hand in Hand Hand in hand.
Hin und her Back and forth.
In der Kürze liegt die Würze Brevity is the soul of wit.
Kopf hoch Chin up.
Lange Rede, kurzer Sinn Long story short.
Na klar Of course.
Nach und nach Little by little.
Ohne Fleiß kein Preis No pain, no gain.
Probieren geht über Studieren Experience is the best teacher.
Toi, toi, toi Good luck, knock on wood.
Tschüss Bye.
Übung macht den Meister Practice makes perfect.
Viel Glück Good luck.
Weiter so Keep it up.
Wer rastet, der rostet You snooze, you lose.
Wunderbar Wonderful.

Funny German words 25

Bärenhunger A ravenous hunger.
Bärenstark Strong as a bear.
Drahtesel A bicycle.
Fuchsteufelswild Hopping mad.
Gänsefüßchen Quotation marks.
Hokuspokus Hocus-pocus.
Kaffeepause Coffee break.
Katzensprung A stone's throw.
Kokolores Balderdash.
Kopfkino Cinema of the mind.
Krimskrams Odds and ends.
Larifari Empty talk.
Pechvogel An unlucky person.
Pillepalle A trifle.
Purzelbaum A somersault.
Quatsch Nonsense, kidding.
Ratzfatz In no time.
Remmidemmi A racket.
Sammelsurium A hodgepodge.
Schnappschuss A snapshot.
Trara Fuss.
Vorfreude Joyful anticipation.
Wirrwarr A jumble.
Wolkenkuckucksheim Cloud cuckoo land.
Zeitlupe Slow motion.

How this list was compiled

A list of 126 German words and sayings to use as team and group names, chosen by Wheel of Teams on 2026-10-04 and filed in five groups: Animals (27), Strength, speed and weather (22), German class or club (25), Short sayings (27), Funny German words (25). They are words of the German language, not the names of German clubs. Each one was looked up that day in its own entry, in the German section, of the English Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/): a plural through the entry of its singular, the article from the gender the entry gives, the capital letter of a noun, the umlauts and the ß as the entry spells them. A saying is printed whole as its entry is titled, and the words of the set Funny German words stand without an article. The first letter of every name is a capital on this page, also where the title of the entry starts with a small letter (ratzfatz, tschüss, auf geht's). The line under each name gives the meaning the entry gives, in our own words; Wiktionary text is under CC BY-SA 4.0. A word with no entry was left out, and so was a word whose entry has a sense labelled vulgar or derogatory or a crude word in its definition. Every name was searched as a title on English Wikipedia, as it is printed and without its article, and was dropped when the page of that title is, or leads to, a company, a product, a film, a book, a song, a music group, a team or a person. A title that is only a disambiguation page, a place, a page about the animal, plant, thing or idea the word names, or a page about a different word with the same spelling was no reason to drop a name. One-word names were also searched as book titles on Open Library (https://openlibrary.org/): none was dropped for it. Compared with Wikipedia's lists of national football team nicknames (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_national_association_football_teams_by_nickname and the seven lists it links): no name of this list is on them. Compared by script the same day with every other list on this site: no name is repeated. Nothing was checked against a trademark register. Licence: own work