Italian Boy Names

Italian heritage name. It's sweet and simple, but has fallen almost out of use since its heyday in the 1960s.

A particularly charming spin on the original, as is theSpanish name Tadeo. It debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016.

A definite improvement over the English Humbert, Umberto has nevertheless been rarely heard outside the Italian community.

Gianni, the Italian equivalent of Johnny, sounds more substantial and fresh. Like many names starting with "Gian", it is on a rising trend (for both boys and girls, though it leans more male). TV star Jill Hennessey's son is named Gianni Mastropietro.

Adriano is a dashing Italian name which gets around the possible gender confusion of Adrian.

Giacomo is a primo member of the Giovanni-Gino-Giancarlo-Giacomo gruppo of Italian names that are beginning to be adopted by American parents. Singer/creative baby namer Sting chose it for his son.

Spirited Italian form of Octavius

Armando takes the flat-footed Herman and makes it romantic. This is another of the Latin names we expect to be seeing more of.

An Italian spin on the current European darling Leon, though the final e makes it a tad feminine to the American sensibility.

Gian sounds (almost) like John, so there's some potential for confusion, but the spelling makes it unmistakeably Italian. It could be a solution if longer names like Gianni and Gianluca aren't your style.

Lighter Latin version of Anselm.

Lengthy, romantic Alessandro gives us the friendly and casual nickname Sandro, which works just as well as an independent name. It’s a popular international name, having ranked in Italy, France, Portugal, and Switzerland in recent years.

Amadeo and Amedeo are both valid Italian forms of the Roman Amadeus, most famous as the middle name of the composer Mozart as well as the title of a movie about him. Mozart's name was actually the Greek Theophilus, but he transformed it to the Latin version. Amadeo is also used in Spain, where it was the name of a 19th century king who was born in Italy.

If Frederick feels too heavy, the Spanish and Italian has more energy. It's a long-term Top 20 name in Italy, and has neat nicknames like Fredo in Italian and Fede in Spanish. Famous bearers include the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca and the Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. Further back in history, it was the name of a fifth-century Visigoth leader, the brother of Theodoric II.

You can't get more Italian than this name of the daddy of legendary twins Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. A noted bearer is acclaimed Italian journalist and novel and short story writer Italo Calvino, author of Invisible Cities and . Trivia tidbit: Calvino was actually one of his middle names.

Was there ever a name that rolled more appealingly off the tongue? Vittorio calls to mind the glory days of Italian cinema, featuring names like Vittorio de Sica and Vittorio Gassman. 

Otello is a masculine Italian name best known as the Italian form of Shakespeare's character Othello. The name gained prominence through Giuseppe Verdi's opera 'Otello,' based on Shakespeare's tragedy. While Shakespeare's character has Moorish origins, the name itself doesn't have clear etymological roots beyond its literary creation. In Italian-speaking regions, Otello has been used as a given name since the popularity of Verdi's opera in the late 19th century. The name carries dramatic and artistic associations, evoking themes of passion, jealousy, and tragic nobility from both Shakespeare's play and Verdi's operatic adaptation. Though never extremely common, Otello appeals to parents with literary or operatic interests and those seeking a distinctively Italian name with cultural depth and artistic resonance.

Giorgio as is rich in meaning and history as George, but with more Italian flair. It's a consistent Top 50 hit in Italy, and with Italian boy names like Gianni and Lorenzo rising through the charts, could be another one to add to the mix.

The best-known modern bearer is fashion designer Giorgio Armani.

A more romantic form of old school Clement, which ranks in the Top 100 boy names in Chile. Clemente, like Clement, derives from the Late Latin name Clemens, the name of 14 popes and several saints.

Virtually unknown in the U.S., yet with its jaunty o ending and similarity to the stylish (yet unrelated) Remy, Remo may find some new followers.