105 Italian Boy Names with Meaning

If you’re looking for Italian baby boy names for your little guy, take a look at this list of popular Italian baby names for boys. I’ll also explain what to pay attention to when picking an Italian name for a baby boy.

All the names on the list are authentic Italian names and spelled correctly. True Italian names are very traditional so there aren’t really any unique names. In fact, creating weird spellings of names is considered a faux pas.

English equivalents are listed, but many Italian male names don’t have any equivalent. If you’re having a girl also check my list of Italian girl names.

Things to Think About When Choosing An Italian Boy Name

The Italian language traditionally doesn’t have gender-neutral names, but many foreigners adapter Italian names and made them gender neutral outside of Italy. For example, Andrea is a strictly male name but outside of Italy you can find many females named Andrea.

And speaking of, some Italian baby boy names end in -a and in most languages names ending with an -a indicate a female name. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t choose the name, but it’s something to be aware of.

• Names ending with -o are masculine (eg. Antonio, Federico).
• Names ending with -i are masculine (eg. Gianni, Luigi).
• Names ending with -e are either masculine or feminine (eg. Leone, Raffaele for boy).
• Names ending with -a are feminine with the exceptions of Lucca, Andrea, Mattia

Many Italians still follow Italian Naming Tradition, which is that the first son and daughter are named after paternal grandparents and second son and daughter are named after maternal grandparents.

This means that if a husband and wife had a son he would be named the same as the husband’s father. Then, if a second child is a girl she would be named the same as a husband’s mother.

But, if a second child is a second son he would be named the same as a mother’s father.

Italians are no different from the rest of Europeans and most names have a “nickname” version of it, which is usually a shorter, sweeter form. Leonardo will always be Leo, Francesco will be called Checco and so on.

Keep in mind that certain names (eg. Leonardo) are pronounced differently, depending on where you are. In Italian, it’s pronounced lay-oh-NAR-do but in the US it’s lee-oh-nar-do. Or the popular Italian name Guido will be pronounced as gwi-do but the name is also popular in German and will be pronounced gi-do (or worse if you’re in the Netherlands as it will be pronounced with a scratching letter in the beginning).

Most Popular Baby Boy Names in Italy

Leonardo is the most popular Italian male name, followed by these Italian names for guys:

• Alessandro
• Francesco
• Lorenzo
• Mattia
• Andrea
• Tommasso

100 Italian Names for Boys

Name	Origin	who brings light through his nobility	English equivalent
Adriano	Latin	from Adria	Adrian
Agostino	Latin	magnificent	Augustin
Alberto	German	who brings light thought his nobility	Albert
Alessandro	Greek	savior, protector of people	Alexander
Alessio	Greek	protector of people	Alexis
Alfredo	German	wise	Alphred
Ambrogio	Greek	immortal
Amerigo	German	home ruler	Emmerich
Andrea	Greek	strong
Angelo	Greek	angel
Antonio	Greek	who comes first	Anthony
Apollo	Greek	destroyer
Arturo	German	bear	Arthur
Augusto	latin	venerable	August
Aurelio	Latin	golden	Aurelius
Bernardo	German	strong	Bernard
Bruno	Latin	Latin
Camillo	Hebrew	Minister of God
Carlo	German	valiant	Charles
Claudio	Latin	who stumbles
Cesare	Latin	of Caesar
Cosimo	Greek	humble
Cristiano	Greek	follower of Christ	Christian
Daniele	Hebrew	judge	Daniel
Dante	Latin	enduring, everlasting
Dario	Persian	who has, rich	Darius
Davide	Hebrew	loved	David
Diego	Greek	erudite
Domenico	Latin	of God	Dominic
Edoardo	Saxon	guardian of goods	Edward
Emanuele	Hebrew	God is with us	Emmanuel
Emilio	Latin	rival	Emil
Emiliano	Latin	rival	Emil
Enrico	German	homeowner, king	Henry
Enzo	Greek	home ruler	Heinz
Ernesto	German	sincere
Eugenio	Latin	well-born, noble	Eugene
Ezio	Greek	eagle
Fabio	Latin	who grows beans
Fausto	Latin	lucky, suitable
Federico	German	rich of peace, protector	Frederick
Ferdinando	German	brave
Filippo	Greek	who loves horses	Phillip
Fiorenzo	strength	flowering	Florence
Francesco	Latin	from France	Frank
Gabriele	Hebrew	God’s strength	Gabriel
Giacomo	Hebrew	God protects	Jacob
Giancarlo	–	strenght	John Charles
Gianluca	–	sacred or possibly light	John Lucas
Gianni	Hebrew	God is gracious	John
Giorgio	Greek	farmer	Georgo
Giovanni	Hebrew	God’s Grace	John
Giuliano	Latin		Julian
Giuseppe	Greek	God will add	Joseph
Gregorio	Greek	watchful	Gregory
Guilio	Latin	devout to Jupiter	George
Guido	German	who shows the way ahead
Gustavo	German	royal staff or staff of the gods	Gus
Jacopo	–	who supplants	James
Leonardo	German	strong	Leonard
Leone	–	lion	Leon
Leopoldo	German	brave	Leopold
Lorenzo	Latin	From Laurentium	Lawrence
Luca	Greek	sacred or possibly light	Luke
Luciano	Greek		Lucian
Ludovico	German	strong fighter	Ludwig
Luigi	German	strong fighter	Ludwig
Marcello	Latin	sacred to Mars	Marcel
Marco	Latin	sacred to Mars	Marcus
Mario	Etruscan	minister of the gods	Marius
Massimiliano	Latin	greatest	Maximilian
Massimo	Latin	greatest	Maximums
Matteo	Hebrew	of God	Matthew
Mattia	Hebrew	of God	Matthew
Maurizio	Latin	from Mauritania
Michele	Hebrew	Minister of the gods	Michael
Milo	German	merciful, soldier	Miles
Nico	Greek	of victory	Nicholas
Neri	German	deciding warrior
Nicola	Greek	of victory	Nicholas
Oliviero	Latin	olive tree	Oliver
Ottavio	Latin	eighth	Octavius
Paolo	Latin	little	Paul
Piero	Latin	stone	Peter
Pietro	Latin	stone	Peter
Raffaele	Hebrew	healer	Raphael
Renato	Latin	reborn
Riccardo	German	strong	Richard
Roberto	German	glorious	Robert
Rocco	German	crow
Romeo	Greek	Roman
Rosario	Latin	rosary
Salvatore	Greek	savior
Samuele	Hebrew	his name is God	Samuel
Sebastiano	Greek	illustrious	Sebastian
Sergio	Latin	guardian
Silvio	Latin	of the woods	Sergius
Simone	Hebrew	God heard my voice	Simon
Stefano	Greek	crowned	Steven
Teodoro	Greek	God’s gift	Theodore
Timoteo	Greek	God’s honor	Timothy
Tiziano	Latin	dove
Tommaso	Hebrew	twin	Thomas
Ugo	German	thought	Hugh
Umberto	German	famous
Valentino	Latin	healthy
Valerio	Latin	strong
Vincenzo	Latin	victorious	Victor
Vito	Latin	life	Victor
Vittorio	Latin	victorious	Victor
Zeno	Greek	devoted to Zeus	Zeus