615+ Italian Names for Girls and Boys

This name of one of the most romantic cities in the world could easily find its way onto an American baby girl's birth certificate.

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.

This Italian form of Benedict sidesteps the Benedict Arnold association that still clouds the English version.

Lighter Latin version of Anselm.

One of the most attractive and unusual spins on the "Fran" franchise.

Tosca is one operatic heroine that has never taken off as a baby name -- there were no babies named Tosca in the US last year -- but it's the name of entrepreneur Elon Musk's sister so may benefit from some referred publicity.

This evocative term for a stone or shell carved in relief could make a striking first name for a girl, though she would have a starring role in her story, rather than a cameo.

Cadenza takes the popular CADENCE and gives it a more operatic flourish.

A name that relates to Concepcion and the Virgin Mary, but feels a good deal more secular.

Rarely heard outside Italy, could make an interesting import.

Guido was very popular in Renaissance Italy, with many namesakes including painter Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro) and mathematician Guido Fubini. Guy Fawkes, of gunpowder plot fame, sometimes used this version. Nowadays it's unfairly overlooked, but in the current trend for snappy international names ending in -o, this cultured gem deserves more use.

This name of the patron saint of Naples would make an apt choice for a New Year's baby, or one with Neapolitan roots.

This Latinized form of a name that's well used in Italy and Spain is sometimes heard, oddly enough, in Ireland.

Cristina is one case where the streamlined version feels more alluring.

The usual form of Eleonara is Eleanora, with each syllable pronounced, but transposing, adding, or subtracting a vowel or syllable here or there works fine and adds to the international, feminine spin on a solid name.