View Message

Unisex Italian names
Hi !!!Italy has very few unisex names and they are rare or seen as weird.What do you think of these ones?Aquila (AH-qwee-la "eagle")
Blu (BLOO, "blue")
Celeste (che-LEH-steh "of the sky; pale-blue")
Fiore (FYOH-reh "flower")
Pace (PAH-cheh "peace")
Sole (SOH-leh "sun")Sole and Celeste are used but are actually seen mainly feminine. Pace Is mainly used as diminutive of Pacifico and Pacifica. Fiore is often used as diminutive of Fiorello, Fiorella, Fiorenzo ...Instead I like them as standalone names with their beautiful meanings as unisex names.Personal Name Lists https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/125456

This message was edited 11/30/2021, 7:15 AM

Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

My favorites as unisex standalone names are Sole, Aquila, and Fiore. I like them all in theory, but...I'm tempted to pronounce Aquila as it'd be in Spanish (more like kee than qwee, as in tequila).Celeste is feminine to me, although that's because my only reference for it is the English version.Pace reminds me of "patchy" in English and also pacemakers.Blu seems cutesy.
I guess I'd like Celeste and Pace more if I was more familiar with Italian; the C pronunciation throws me off.

This message was edited 11/30/2021, 10:02 PM

vote up1
Those sound all feminine to me except Sole, since the word is masculine.
vote up1
I've always really liked Pace (PAH-cheh "peace") and Aquila (AH-qwee-la "eagle".
I like Celeste (che-LEH-steh "of the sky; pale-blue") and Fiore (FYOH-reh "flower"), but they are definitely feminine, IMO.
I don't like Blu or Sole.
vote up1
Interesting to learn about unisex names in gramatically gendered languages! In my language, the only unisex full names are Nikola and René, but the usage leans very much to one gender.From your list, I love Celeste for a girl (for a boy, I prefer Celestino). I like Fiore and Aquila. I prefer Aquila for a boy, though, because I associate it with the Biblical Aquila (and also a soda water brand that is sold where I live which ruins it a bit for me).Blu feels too much like the creative English spelling of Blue, I dislike it. Pace and Sole are too wordy for my taste. Contrary to the usage, Sole feels much more masculine than feminine to me.Btw, I've heard Felice (Fe-lee-che) on a woman. But I guess it's strictly masculine in Italy?
vote up1
Thank you for your comment.Nikola! I like It for boys!
Here Nicola is totally masculine while Nicla (so rare), Nicolina (rare), Nicoletta (common) and Nicole (modern) are for girls. Actually I think that by law it's Andrea the legal unisex name.The ones I listed as very rare on certificates and they are often gendered.I.e. Celeste is virtually unisex but 90% of them are girls.Anyway I love that the Italian perception is slowly (very slowly) changing.Oh... Felice!
Yes it is virtually unisex as well!
In this case the 90% of them are males while girls go with Felicia (..-cha) or Felicita and rarely Felicetta.In my opinion Angelo as well should be unisex because angels are genderless. Actually 100% of Angelo are males.Being a namenerd I have weird ideas. LOL
vote up1
Fiorenzo is so handsome, I wouldn't shorten it to fiore.
vote up1