Horst is a male given name used mostly in German-speaking countries. Etymology/meaning The name is of Old High German origin, meaning "man from the forest", "bosk" or "brushwood". In modern German, "Horst" is also a translation of English aerie, the nest of an eagle or other bird. Notable people named Horst Horst Buchholz (1933–2003), German actor Horst Bulau (born 1962), Canadian ski jumper Horst Eckel (1932–2021), German footballer Horst Feistel (1915–1990), German cryptographer Horst Fischer (1912–1966), German SS concentration camp doctor executed for war crimes Horst P. Horst (1906–1999), German photographer Horst Hrubesch (born 1951), German footballer Horst Jankowski (1936–1998), German pianist Horst Janson (actor) (born 1935), German actor Horst Köhler (born 1943), former Federal President of Germany Horst Lademacher (born 1931), German historian Horst Mahler (born 1936), German rightist and ex-Rote Armee Fraktion member Horst Mahseli (1934–1999), Polish footballer Horst Muhlmann (1940–1991), German-born American football player Horst Peissker (born 1927), German biochemist Horst Rechelbacher (1941–2014), Austrian-American businessman Horst Salomon (1929–1972), German novelist and screenwriter Horst Seehofer (born 1949), minister-president of Bavaria Horst Simco (born 1982), American rapper also known as Riff Raff (rapper) Horst Sindermann (1915–1990), German politician Horst Tappert (1923–2008), German actor Horst Wessel (1907–1930), German National Socialist political activist, assassinated in Weimar Germany German masculine given names