The most common names of unemployment money recipients in Germany
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:
Michael - 19,200
Bürgergeld
recipients as of June 2025
Andreas - 16,200
Thomas -15,700
Daniel - 14,800
Olena - 14,400
Alexander - 13,800
Ahmad - 13,700
Ali - 13,500
Christian - 13,400
Mohammad - 12,500
Anna - 12,400
Oleksandr - 12,000
Tetiana - 11,400
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 was primarily foreign names in the top positions, then it can 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.
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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.
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