Ariodante

This is the name of an Italian knight from canto V of the 16th-century epic poem Orlando furioso written by the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533). Two centuries later, the character became the subject of George Frideric Handel's opera seria Ariodante (1735).

Ariodante is most likely a compound name, of which the meaning is uncertain. It has been suggested that the name is a combination of the Italian forenames Ario and Dante. However, given the literary origin of the name, it is probably more likely that the name is a combination of words instead.

For the first element of the name, at least three theories have been proposed for its etymology. The first is that it is derived from Italian aria meaning "air, melody, tune" (which ultimately comes from Latin aer meaning "air"). The second is that it is derived from Old Germanic harjaz meaning "army". Also compare its Frankish descendant hari meaning "army".

The third theory derives the first element from Latin hariolus (variantly ariolus) meaning "fortune-teller". It is closely related to archaic Italian ariolo meaning "fortune-teller" and Latin haruspex meaning "diviner, soothsayer".

The second element of the name appears to be a bit more straightforward. It is said to be derived from Latin dante, which is the ablative singular of dans meaning "giving, offering" as well as "yielding, conceding". In turn, dans is the present active participle of the Latin verb do meaning "to give, to offer" as well as "to yield, to concede, to surrender". Also compare modern Italian dante, which is the present participle of the verb dare meaning "to give".

Lastly, known real-life bearers of this name include the Italian singer Ariodante Dalla (1919-1966) and the Italian historian and politician Ariodante Fabretti (1816-1894).