For anyone seeking a more unusual version of Alexander, this is a real winner.
 Notable namesakes include the great Italian opera composer Scarlatti and the influential physicist Alessandro Volta, known primarily for the invention of the battery you use every day — as well as the contemporary hunky actor Alessandro Nivola. 
 Appealing short forms are Alessio and Sandro (as in Botticelli).

Alessandro

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.

Antonio

Amadore

Amideo

Bartolomeo

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

Bianco

It’s ok, we can talk about Bruno now!

Tough-yet-cuddly Bruno is an international name even in its origins: it derives from the Germanic word for “brown” plus a Latin ending, and was borrowed as a color word in many European languages.

Today, Bruno is popular in Latin America, Spain, and Eastern Europe, but has been — until recently, at least — neglected in North America.

In the middle ages, it was worn by several rulers and bishops, and an eleventh-century saint. In modern times, Bruno gets its “strong man” image from people like wrestler Bruno Sammartino, and Frank Bruno, the British boxer. That, and the fact it was traditionally a name for bears in children’s tales.

However, Bruno also has a more gentle, soulful side that more and more parents are seeing. Singer Bruno Mars (born Peter, but nicknamed Bruno from a young age after Sammartino) has done a lot to raise its popularity in the last 20 years.

The Disney movie Encanto may do even more, thanks to its misunderstood prophetic Uncle Bruno, and the catchy song We Don’t Talk About Bruno.

As <ahref="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/901/boy-names-ending-in-o">boy names ending in O</a> continue to rise, we can see this appealing to parents looking for something well-known, multicultural, and not too popular.

Its color meaning makes it especially good for a <ahref="https://nameberry.com/list/351/names-for-autumn-babies">boy born in autumn.</a>

Bruno

Bartolo

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.

Camillo

Cristofano

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.

Dante

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

Donato

Frederigo

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).

Giovanni

Giano

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. 

But then along came Leonardo DiCaprio, who was supposedly given the name because his pregnant mother felt her first kick while looking at a da Vinci painting in the Ufizzi Gallery in Florence, and who would make the name young and handsome and multi-cultural. 
 Leonardo is a popular choice among other attractive Italian and <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/806/spanish-names-for-boys">Spanish names for boys</a>, and its cousin Leo is popular as well.

Leonardo

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

Leone

Luciano

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. 

Lucio belongs with the light-meaning names such as Lucius, Lucy, Lucia, and Lux. Then there is the Luke, Lucas, and Luca names that mean "man from Lucanus." Both these branches are rooted in the Latin.

Louis, Louise, Luis, and Louisa have French and German roots and mean "renowned warrior".

Pronunciation of Lucio differs according to country. Spanish and Portuguese speakers pronounce the c like an s and may emphasize the first or the second syllable, depending on country. So the options are LOO-see-oh or loo-SEE-oh.

Italians pronounce the c like the English ch and pronounce the name with only two syllables: LOO-cho.

Lucio

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.

Marcello

Marciano

A handsome and romantic-sounding European option.

Mariano

This attractively energetic Italian version of the classic Matthew is primed to move further and further into mainstream American nomenclature. Mateo is technically the Spanish version, but many parents in the US use the two spellings interchangeably. 
 
In the US, about 12,000 baby boys were named Mateo, Matteo, or Teo in 2021, vaulting the name in all versions into the Top 10. Mateo alone, by far the most popular version, lies just outside the Top 10.
 Actor Colin Firth has a son called Matteo, as does Ricky Martin; the Benjamin Bratts and Tom Colicchios have boys named Mateo. We're sure that both these spellings will keep climbing in tandem, sharing the possibility of the lively nickname Teo.

Matteo

Niccolo

Orlando, the ornate Italianate twist on the dated Roland, with a literary heritage stretching back to Shakespeare and before, has appealing book-ended o's, and is open to combination with almost any last name, a la British actor, Orlando Bloom.
 Orlando has an impressive literary résumé, including the poem "Orlando Furioso,", Handel's opera "Orlando", Shakespeare's As You Like It and Virginia Woolf's gender-bending novel. Most recently, Orlando was a character in The Wire.
 Orlando Bloom's name was inspired by that of the sixteenth century composer, Orlando Gibbons. It is also the first name of several outstanding athletes--including Orlandos Woolridge, Cabrera and Cepeda, and is, of course, a place name, home of Disney World in Florida.

Orlando

Otto is cool again. Long a quintessential Old Man Name, Otto has been promoted to trending darling of adventurous baby namers. 
 Like most <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/160/german-names">German names</a>, Otto fell out of favor during and after the two World Wars – it had been a Top 100 name in the years preceding. Off the Top 1000 from the mid-1970s until 2011, Otto is now headed straight uphill.
 <br/
There were some distinguished Ottos before the imperial image of Prussian Otto von Bismarck colored the name. Otto the Great is generally considered the founder of the Holy Roman Empire and there were several German and Austrian royals with the name. 

 Otto Frank was the father of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who wrote her famous diary during her family's years in hiding from the Nazis during World War II. She was killed in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 and her father Otto typed and edited the diary himself to prepare it for publication. 

 Otto Hightower is a character in the Game of Thrones universe, played by Rhys Ifans in the HBO prequel House of the Dragon.

 Feminine forms of Otto include Ottoline, Ottilie, Odilia and Odette, all fashionable in the UK along with Otto itself.

Otto

Piero is elegant, melodic, appealing. Just picture the muted frescoes of Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca.


Piero

Yet another winning international form of Peter. 

Pietro

Serafino

As commonly heard in Rome, Italy, as Steve is in Rome, New York. With the accent on the first syllable, Stefano has a lot of charm.

Stefano

Old World Italian name that might become fashionable in a so-far-out-it's-in way, like Enzo and Rocco. Main recommendation: It's among the rare <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/608/boy-names-that-mean-life">boy names that mean life</a>.

Vito

tgannon1423's list "Renaissance Boy Names from Florence" of 31 great name ideas: Alessandro - Vito!

Renaissance Boy Names from Florence

The following is a list of male names (which are currently uncommon and may be suitable for a modern baby) recorded from the Online Catasto, which is a  searchable database of tax information for the city of Florence in 1427-29 and based upon the research of David Herlihy and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber. 