AugustomSpanish, Italian, Portuguese Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of Augustus. This name was borne by the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (1915-2006).
BiancafItalian, Romanian Italian cognate of Blanche. Shakespeare had characters named Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (1593) and Othello (1603). The German singer Freddy Breck's 1973 song Bianca boosted the name's popularity elsewhere in Europe.
DantemItalian Medieval short form of Durante. The most notable bearer of this name was Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the Italian poet who wrote the Divine Comedy.
EnricomItalian Italian form of Heinrich (see Henry). Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) was an Italian physicist who did work on the development of the nuclear bomb.
FaustinomSpanish, Italian, Portuguese Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of the Roman cognomen Faustinus, which was itself derived from the Roman name Faustus. Faustinus was the name of several early saints.
GiovannimItalian Italian form of Iohannes (see John). This name has been very common in Italy since the late Middle Ages, as with other equivalents of John in Europe. The Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the painter Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516) and the painter and sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) were famous bearers of the name.
IsabellafItalian, German, English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Romanian Latinate form of Isabel. This name was borne by many medieval royals, including queens consort of England, France, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire and Hungary, as well as the powerful ruling queen Isabella of Castile (properly called Isabel).... [more]
JessicafEnglish, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish This name was first used in this form by William Shakespeare in his play The Merchant of Venice (1596), where it belongs to the daughter of Shylock. Shakespeare probably based it on the biblical name Iscah, which would have been spelled Jescha in his time. It was not commonly used as a given name until the middle of the 20th century. It reached its peak of popularity in the United States in 1987, and was the top ranked name for girls between 1985 and 1995, excepting 1991 and 1992 (when it was unseated by Ashley). Notable bearers include actresses Jessica Tandy (1909-1994) and Jessica Lange (1949-).
LeomGerman, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, English, Croatian, Armenian, Late Roman Derived from Latin leo meaning "lion", a cognate of Leon. It was popular among early Christians and was the name of 13 popes, including Saint Leo the Great who asserted the dominance of the Roman bishops (the popes) over all others in the 5th century. It was also borne by six Byzantine emperors and five Armenian kings. Another famous bearer was the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), name spelled Лев in Russian, whose works include War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Leo is also a constellation and the fifth sign of the zodiac.... [more]
LeonmEnglish, German, Dutch, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Greek, Ancient Greek Derived from Greek λέων (leon) meaning "lion". During the Christian era this Greek name was merged with the Latin cognate Leo, with the result that the two forms are used somewhat interchangeably across European languages. In England during the Middle Ages this was a common name among Jews. A famous bearer was the communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), whose name is Лев in Russian.
LisafEnglish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian Short form of Elizabeth (though often used independently) and its cognates in other languages. This is the name of the subject of one of the world's most famous paintings, the Mona Lisa, the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci.... [more]
MarcomItalian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch Italian form of Marcus (see Mark). During the Middle Ages this name was common in Venice, where Saint Mark was supposedly buried. A famous bearer was the Venetian explorer Marco Polo, who travelled across Asia to China in the 13th century.
MariomItalian, Spanish, German, Croatian Italian and Spanish form of Marius. Famous bearers include American racecar driver Mario Andretti (1940-) and Canadian hockey player Mario Lemieux (1965-). It is also borne by a Nintendo video game character, a moustached Italian plumber, who debuted as the playable hero of Donkey Kong in 1981. Spelled マリオ (Mario) in Japanese Katakana, he was reportedly named after Mario Segale (1934-2018), an American businessman who rented a warehouse to Nintendo.
Nikita 1mRussian, Ukrainian, Belarusian Russian form of Niketas. This form is also used in Ukrainian and Belarusian alongside the more traditional forms Mykyta and Mikita. A notable bearer was the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971).
PaulinomSpanish, Portuguese Spanish and Portuguese form of the Roman family name Paulinus, which was itself derived from Paulus (see Paul). Saint Paulinus of Nola was a 5th-century nobleman from Gaul who gave up his wealthy lifestyle and became bishop of Nola. He was also noted for his poetry. Another saint by this name was a 7th-century missionary to England who became the first bishop of York.
PietromItalian Italian form of Peter. Pietro was the given name of the Renaissance painter known as Perugino.
RinaldomItalian, Carolingian Cycle Italian form of Reynold. This is the Italian name of the hero Renaud, appearing as the cousin of Orlando in the Orlando poems (1483 and 1532) by Boiardo and Ariosto. A different version of this character features in the poem Jerusalem Delivered (1580) by Torquato Tasso.
RobertomItalian, Spanish, Portuguese Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Robert. Saint Roberto Bellarmine was a 16th-century cardinal who is regarded as a Doctor of the Church. Another famous bearer was Roberto de Nobili (1577-1656), a Jesuit missionary to India.
RomeomItalian, Romanian Italian form of the Late Latin Romaeus or Late Greek Ρωμαῖος (Romaios), which meant "from Rome" or "Roman". Romeo is best known as the lover of Juliet in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1596). Shakespeare based his play on earlier Italian stories by Luigi Da Porto (1524) and Matteo Bandello (1554), which both featured characters named Giulietta and Romeo.