 He used "Manuel", the given name of his father, as his surname and used "Deutsch", as the German equivalent of the surname "Alleman", as an additional appellation, signing his works with the initials NMD.He is first recorded in 1509, when he married Katharina Frisching, daughter of Hans Frisching, a former Bernese reeve and member of the city council ("Kleiner Rat").Niklaus Manuel and Katharina Frisching had six children.