The study looks into the way in which Man, the language animal, uses words to refer to himself. The material discussed comprises some 15,000 designations for persons in present-day German (e.g. Prüfer, Prüfling). 10,300 such terms are to be found in a normal one-volume German dictionary. The discussion centres on standard vocabulary, but comparative reference is also made to examples from other language varieties. Nouns for persons are described in terms of the morphological and semantic systems governing them. Other topics discussed are: aspects of language history and language comparison; occurrence and functions in journalistic prose and literary texts; multiplicity of designation in German.