Italian names: From La Dolce Vita and beyond

Last week we perused the character names in classic French New Wave films and today, as promised, we do the same for the Italian cinema produced (mostly) in Rome’s Cinecittà, from the gritty neorealist works of Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini to the fantasies of Fellini, the surreal films of Antonioni, et alia.

Italian names, almost universally, end in vowels, so here’s an opportunity to explore a fresh source of feminissima girls’ names ending in ‘a,’ ranging from the simple Lia to the elaborate Elisabetta, and boys’ names with the popular ‘o’ ending—some of which will be more familiar than others.

This time—as prompted by one of you berries– I’m including the  names of the films the characters appear in.  The movie titles are in Italian or English (sometimes both), depending on how they are best known in the US.

• Adelina – de Sica, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
• Adreina –Antonioni, The Cry/Il grido
• Amalia– Rossellini, Dov’é la libertà?
• Annarella – de Sica, Bread, Love and Dreams
• Bruna – Bertolucci, La commare secca; Pasolini, La Mamma Roma
• Cabiria—Fellini, Nights of Cabiria
• Clelia — Bertolucci, Before the Revolution; Antonioni, The Girlfriends/Le amiche; Rossellini, Vanina Vanini
• Clementina –de Sica, The Voyage/ Il Viaggio
• Dorotea –Fellini, And the Ship Sails On
• Elisabetta – Fellini, Juliet of the Spirits
• Elvia –Antonioni, The Cry/ Il grido
• Filumena – De Sica, Marriage, Italian Style
• Giuditta—Zeffirelli, Sparrow
• Giuliana –Antonioni, Red Desert
• Lauretta – Rossellini, Open City
• Lia – Rossellini, Desire
• Lidia – Antonioni, La notte
• Lietta – Visconti, Conversation Piece
• Maddalena  –Fellini, La Dolce Vita; Pasolini, Accattone!;Visconti, Bellissima
• Mariella – Bertolucci, La commare secca; Antonioni, The Girlfriends/Le amiche
• Marilena – Fellini, The White Sheik
• Mimosa—Rossellini, Anima Nera
• Paolina –de Sica, The Children Are Watching Us
• Patrizia – Fellini, The Swindle/Il bidone; Antonioni, l’avventura
• Rosetta – Antonioni, The Girlfriends/ Le amiche
• Rosina – Antonioni, The Cry/Il grido
• Rossella – Fellini, 8 ½
• Serenella – Bertolucci, La Commare Secca
• Simonetta –Antonioni, The Lady Without Camelias
• Tecia—Zeffirelli, Sparrow
• Valeria – Rossellini, General della Rovere
• Vavina—Rossellini, Vanina Vanini
• Vittoria–Antonioni, L’Eclipse

BOYS

• Agostino – Bertolucci, Before the Revolution; Rossellini, Open City
• Alfio – Visconti, La Terra Trema
• Amedeo – de Sica, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
• Augusto – Fellini, The Swindle/Il bidone; Pasolini, La Mamma Roma
• Aurelio – Fellini, Amarcord
• Ciro – Pasolini –The Hawks and the Sparrows; Visconti, Rocco and His Brothers
• Corrado – Antonioni, The Red Desert, l’avventura
• Ettore – Pasolini, La Mamma Roma
• Fabrizio –Bertolucci, Before the Revolution
• Federico — de Sica, The Gold of Naples
• Filippo –de Sica, Two Women; Visconti, L’innocente
• Gaetano – de Sica, Miracle in Milan
• Ivo —  Fellini, La voce della luna/ Visconti, Rocco and His Brothers
• Lino – Pasolini, La Mamma Roma
• Livio – Rossellini –Vanina Vanini
• Lorenzo – Antonioni, The Girlfriends, Le amiche
• Massimo – Rossellini, Paisan
• Nandino —  de Sica, The Voyage/Il Viaggio
• Nino – Zeffirelli, Sparrow
• Olmo – Bertolucci, 1900
• Otello– Rossellini, Dov’é la libertà?
•  Ottavio – Bertolucci, 1900
• Piero – Antonioni, Eclipse; Pasolini, La Mamma Roma
• Raffaele –de Sica, Shoe-shine/Sciuscià
• Raimondo – Antonioni, l’avventura
• Remo – Fellini, Variety Lights
• Renato –Pasolini, Accattone!; Rossellini, Escape By Night
• Romolo – Rossellini, Dov’é la libertà?
• Sandro – Antonioni, l’avventura
• Teo – Fellini, Amarcord
• Teodoro –Bertolucci, La commare secca
• Torquato – Rossellini, Dov’é la libertà?
• Tullio — Visconti, L’innocenti
• Ugo – Antonioni, The Red Desert
• Umberto—de Sica, Umberto D.