Sofia and Leonardo are the names preferred by Italians

Sofia, of Greek origin and meaning “science, wisdom”, confirms its popularity not only in Italy but throughout the Western world, in the Sophia and Sophie variants, ranking first in Europe and America. In second place among girls goes Aurora, whose success derives from the symbolic richness of the name: it evokes the first lights of dawn, mythological figures such as the Latin goddess Aurora and the Greek Eos, as well as literary and fairy-tale characters, from “Sleeping Beauty” by Perrault to Disney cinema. Followed by Ginevra, inspired by the legend of King Arthur, and Giulia, leader of the ranking until 2012 but now relegated to fifth place by Vittoria.

Followed by Beatrice (medieval reference to the woman loved by Dante Alighieri), Ludovica, Matilde (the Empress Matilda of Canossa, the one who convinced the emperor to bow before the Pope and apologize), Alice (a name that became famous with Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”), and Emma, ​​an international name that has come back into fashion. Camilla, Anna, Bianca, Greta and Azzurra close the ranking of the top 15 positions, to the detriment of Maria, once much loved.

On the male side, Leonardo is the preferred name, which with its exit in ‘-ardo’ drags Edoardo to second place and, in tenth position, Riccardo: the demonstration of a predilection for names of Germanic origin, dating back to the so-called barbarian invasion? It’s difficult to say, notes the linguist Caffarilli, because the first part of the name Leonardo corresponds to Leo/Leone, a Greek or Latin form; Edward’s ‘-ardo’ does not mean “strong, robust” like the others but means “guardian of the army’s assets”, while Gerard remains 165th.

After Thomas we find Matthias in fourth place, Andrew stable in the top ten while Aeneas, a figure of classical epic literature, is unleashed, celebrated by Virgil in the Aeneid but also revived in medieval and modern times, bringing with him to success also other epic names such as his son Ascanius, Hector and Achilles, with the reference to the Trojan War narrated in the Iliad, and other characters of Imperial Rome such as Caesar, Flavius ​​and Hadrian. We also really like Elijah, the name of the greatest prophet in Jewish history (along with John the Baptist), who we also find in the Gospel. However, Jewish names have become an international phenomenon, not only in Anglo-Saxon countries but also in Italy, starting with Thomas and Matthias, the twelfth apostle who replaced the suicidal Judas Iscariot. Most Jewish personal names are characterized by the ending in ‘-ele’, from Elohim (one of the names of God): Gabriel (8th), Samuel (18th), Michael (26th), Joel (27th), Emmanuel (35th), Daniel (47th) and Raphael (48th).

The name Noah is growing significantly, on the rise throughout the Western world and in Italy, thanks to the Anglophone addition of the h, which has overcome the comparison with the Noah of the Ark and the universal flood.

“A hard core – observes Enzo Caffarilli, founder and director of the ‘Rivista italiana di onomastica’ – is represented by the classic names of the twentieth century, preserved above all in the South of Italy and in small towns, which will remain afloat without the need for the Ark: Andrea (10th), Giuseppe (14th), Antonio (15th), Pietro (19th) Giovanni (21st) Marco (31st) Salvatore (33rd) Vincenzo (34th), Giorgio (39th), and Luigi (46th), resist the decline that hit Matteo and Maria, first for two and a half centuries and now outside the top 50”.

“Names – concludes Caffarilli – often follow cyclical trends: they reach a peak and then retreat when they become too common or strongly identifying a generation, to be rediscovered after some time”. (by Paolo Martini)