Detlef is a given name of German origin. It is also spelled Detlev. People with this name Notable people with this name include: Detlef Bothe (born 1957), East German sprint canoeist Detlef Bothe (born 1965), German actor Detlef Bruckhoff (born 1958), retired German footballer Detlef Enge (born 1952), former East German football player Detlef Gerstenberg (1957–1993), East German hammer thrower Detlef Gromoll (1938–2008), German mathematician Detlef Grumbach (born 1955), German author and journalist Detlef Hofmann (born 1963), German sprint canoeist Detlef Kästner (born 1958), East German boxer Detlef Kübeck (born 1956), retired East German sprinter Detlef Kirchhoff (born 1967), German rower Detlef Kraus (1919–2008), German pianist Detlef Laugwitz (1932–2000), German mathematician Detlef Lewe (1939–2008), West German sprint canoeist Detlef Lienau (1818–1887), German architect born in Denmark Detlef Lohse (born 1963), German fluid mechanics researcher Detlef Michel (born 1955), German track and field athlete Detlef Nebbe (1912–1972), SS-Hauptscharführer and member of staff at Auschwitz concentration camp Detleff Neumann-Neurode (1879–1945), pioneering German pediatric physical therapist Detlef Okrent (1909–1983), German field hockey player Detlef Pirsig (1945–2019), former German football player Detlef Quadfasel, professor of geophysics at Niels Bohr Institute Detlef Raugust (born 1954), German former footballer Detlef Richter (born 1956), East German bobsledder Detlef Sack (born 1965), professor of Comparative Political Science at Bielefeld University Detlef Schößler (born 1962), German former footballer, now a coach Detlef Schmidt (born 1958), West German sprint canoeist Detlef Schrempf (born 1963), retired German NBA basketball player Detlef Siebert, German television writer, director and producer, working in the UK Detlef Soost (born 1970), German dancer and choreographer Detlef Thorith (born 1942), retired East German discus thrower Detlef Uhlemann (born 1949), former West German distance runner Detlef Ultsch (born 1955), former East German judoka Detlef Wagenknecht (born 1959), East German middle-distance runner Detlef Weigel (born 1961), German American scientist working at the interface of developmental and evolutionary biology Detlef Wiedeke (born 1950), German singer, composer and producer Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs (1836–1923), published findings on chemical element periodicity before Dmitri Mendeleev or Lothar Meyer German masculine given names