Renaissance Boy Names from Florence

For anyone seeking a more unusual version of Alexander, this is a real winner.

Antonio is a Shakespearean favorite -- the Bard used it in no less than five of his plays, and has long been a ubiquitous classic in Spanish-speaking countries, where the nickname Tonio is also prevalent. Antonio is also among an elite group of perennially popular names in the US, where it has always been among the boys' Top 1000 since baby name record-keeping started in 1880.

Although the female version Bianca has long been accepted as a name outside Italy, maybe it's time to consider this boy color name.

Now that Camilla is super popular, why not consider the male version? It's been the name of dozens of prominent Italians -- including a 16th century pope -- throughout history, and Shakespeare used for a Sicilian nobleman in The Winter's Tale.

Though closely associated with the great medieval Florentine poet Dante Alighieri -- who's so famous most people skip the last name -- it's not as much of a one-man name as you might think. Heck, it's not even a one-poet name, thanks to British pre-Rapahaelite Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Though especially well used in the Italian-American community, it would make a striking name for any little boy.

Widely used in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, has an air of generosity and could easily be adopted here.

Giovanni is a venerable Italian classic that suddenly sounds fresh and cool. Ubiquitous in Italy, it has countless notable namesakes, from writer Boccaccio to designer Versace (nn Gianni).

For centuries this name was associated primarily with the towering figure of Italian Renaissance painter-scientist-inventor Leonardo da Vinci, and was scarcely used outside the Latin culture.

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

A vibrant, operatic Latin choice.

About 100 baby boys were named Lucio in the US last year, a number we expect to increase with the growing popularity of all names in the Lu family. It's a family united by sound, with three main branches.

Based on the ancient name Marcellus, drawn from Mars the god of war, Marcello -- it's pronounced mar-chell-o -- is one of the most lush and attractive Latin names.