Far-right AfD gets surprise over common names of German benefits recipients

The most common names of unemployment (Bürgergeld) recipients are Michael, Andreas and Thomas.

That's the result of an inquiry put forward to the Bundestag by the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, according to an exclusive report by the Rheinische Post.

"Presumably, the party hoped for something different," the authors of the report wrote.

The official inquiry read: "What are the 14 most common first names of recipients of the citizen's allowance (Bürgergeld)...and how many people accounted for these first names?"

The answer, given by Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Katja Mast (SPD), included the following figures:

1. Michael - 19,200 Bürgergeld recipients as of June 2025
2. Andreas - 16,200
3. Thomas -15,700
4. Daniel - 14,800
5. Olena - 14,400
6. Alexander - 13,800
7. Ahmad - 13,700
8. Ali - 13,500
9. Christian - 13,400
10. Mohammad - 12,500
11. Anna - 12,400
12. Oleksandr - 12,000
13. Tetiana - 11,400
14. Iryna - 10,600

The Federal Employment Agency is cited as the source of the statistics.

Seeking fodder for xenophobia

If instead of a number of common German names at the top of the list, it had been primarily foreign names in the top positions, then it could be assumed that the results of the inquiry would have been immediately announced by members of the AfD.

The anti-immigration party regularly promotes unfounded narratives that people with a migrant background are detrimental to German society, including the claim that they are more often dependent on benefits like Bürgergeld - an idea which is proven to be inaccurate by their latest inquiry.

Members of the Bundestag often bring specific inquiries to try and highlight specific issues in German society.

READ ALSO:

• Scandal-hit AfD politician makes comeback in German Bundestag
• German intelligence suspends AfD 'extremist' label amid appeal

Citizen's allowance

Bürgergeld, often translated as citizen's allowance, is a cash benefit for citizens and some residents in Germany who have no income or do not earn enough money to support themselves and their dependents - in other words, an unemployment benefit.

As of February this year, 5.54 million people in Germany received the benefit.

The black-red coalition of the Union and the SPD would like to reform the benefit to save money. Currently it costs the state around €50 billion euros a year.