Talk:heißen

German etymology

I need clarification, I don't understand well this: " but implying that one “owns” this name, not necessarily that one goes by it"

This isn't etymology, which means the origin of a word... But to answer your question: The intended meaning of that note is that "ich heiße Peter" tends to mean that it's your real name. That note was added because "heißen" is often translated to English as "to be called". But when you say "I'm called Peter" it usually means that this is what people actually call you. 78.54.48.32 22:43, 30 November 2020 (UTC)

To be sure, this doesn't mean that you couldn't say "ich heiße XY" with a nickname. You could. Just as a tendency it's used more with real names. With nicknames more often you say "ich bin (der/die) XY". 78.54.48.32 22:49, 30 November 2020 (UTC)