Italian boy names : popular Italian first names for baby boys.

Choosing baby first names is an important part of family life in Italy.  We look at cultural traditions as well as the most popular twenty for boys.

Italian boy names

Italian first names : regional traditions

Italian people will tell you that their first allegiance is to their mother, second to their village or town, and third to their region.

What you may not know is that regional influences can have an effect even on the names families choose for their babies.

'Romolo', for example, is one of the Italian first names name found typically in the Rome area; 'Brizio' is found only in parts of Umbria; and in our own village 'Michele' is the most favoured of baby first names after the patron saint of the village, St Michael the Archangel.

Baby first names and Italian family traditions

It's still customary in Italy for Italian first names to follow family tradition, particularly when it comes to Italian boy names. A first-born son is generally named after his father's father, the second son after his mother's father.

Only then will a son be named after his father, a favourite uncle, or a saint.

Italian first names and celebrity status

It's much less common in Italy than it is in, for example, the United States, to call a child after a sporting hero or a pop star. Italian names tend to stick with the time-honoured Italian first names passed down through the generations.

For that reason, you'll see in the list of top twenty Italian boy names below that the most popular first names for boys in Italy are fairly predictable.

Italian boy names and 'name days'

The tradition of 'name days' or 'saint's days' may have fallen out of favour in other countries but it's still alive and well in Italian family traditions.

The 'onomastico', as it's called, was once as big a day to celebrate as a birthday.  Presents were given, greetings sent. These days it's really only the 'Mamma' and perhaps an aunt who will generally remember name days - except in the South of the country where the tradition is still important.

So if you have an Italian friend, find out when their 'onomastico' is and send them one of our free interactive e-cards - they'll be very impressed!

Top twenty Italian boy names, in order of popularity

Name
Meaning
Equivalent
Name day
Giuseppe (Beppe)
God-given son
Joseph
March 19th
Giovanni
God is gracious
John
June 24th
Antonio
Beyond praise
Anthony
January 17th or June 13th
Mario
Virile
No equivalent
January 19th
Luigi
Famous warrior
No equivalent
June 21st
Francesco (Franco)
Free
Francis
January 7th
Angelo
Messenger of god
No equivalent
Easter Monday
Vincenzo
Conquering
Vincent
January 22nd
Pietro
Rock
Peter
June 29th
Salvatore
Saviour
No equivalent
August 6th
Carlo
Free man
Charles
November 4th
Alessandro
Defender of mankind
Alexander
August 26th
Domenico
Belonging to the Lord
Dominic
January 22nd
Bruno
Brown-haired
Bruno
October 6th
Paolo
Modest
Paul
June 29th
Michele
God-like
Michael
September 29th
Giorgio
Farmer
George
April 23rd
Aldo
Wise one
No equivalent
January 10th
Sergio
Guardian
No equivalent
September 9th
Luciano
Light
No equivalent
January 7th




Italian names for baby girls.

Want to learn to speak Italian? Here's a good place to start.