I ask this just after I downloaded a game called “Klaus” for my iPhone.
In the game, you tilt the phone back and forth to guide your drunken buddy Klaus down the street, and he looks goofy. (and the vendor, ROOT9 MediaLab GmbH is clearly German).
In another encounter with a German named Klaus, it was some sort of work safety video where this totally clumsy fellow was blithely going throughout his day at the warehouse causing death and destruction in his path.
Is this just a super common name, like “Mike” or “John”?
Or is it a special kind of name that has a connotation of goofiness or clumsiness?
Staplerfahrer Klaus! That is an excellent short movie. It’s actually a spoof of (work) safety videos which were everywhere in Germany in the 90s!
I remember having to watch them at school. Often they were like parodies themselves, there was one called “Intern Norbert has problems” where hapless intern Norbert was hanging around in his room all day, listening to Heavy Metal, drinking beer, and never going to work. He then got fired from his exciting job at the copy shop and went on to drink more beer and listen to more Heavy Metal. Guess what we thought about that at 16.
As to your question, though, no, there is nothing special about the name Klaus. It derives from “Nikolaus” (which is rarely used today as a name as it is used for Santa). Klaus also is kind of old-fashioned, and might therefore have a bit of a conservative touch.
Ditto on Klaus being nothing special. It would be a particularly unremarkable first name, never having been particularly in fashion. In the Gesellschaft für Deutsche Sprachelist of popular names it has never been in the top ten for birth years 1995 to present.