Boys' names that work well in English and Italian

[mariposa1]

Expecting DS2 any day and struggling to think of names which fit the above criteria.

Italian names which I like (Luca, Matteo) are 'too popular' for Italian DP.

His current favourite is Niccolo, nickname Nico. I am leaning towards Oscar. Can anyone suggest any others which might work?

It doesn't have to be an Italian name as such - more 'European' I guess. DS1 is called Raphael and that's a perfect example of the kind of name we're looking for!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[MoonlightandRoses]

Congratulations.

No idea how popular (or otherwise) the below are in Italy, but how about one of:

Dario/Darius
Dante
Dominic
Felix
Gabriel (although possibly not with Raphael)
Laurence/Laurenzo
Hector

[TheBigBumTheory]

Pascal

[HoneyandRum]

Alessio
Giulio (Julio)
Ernesto
Enzo
Antonio
Tiberio

[DevonFolk]

Marco?

[LineRunner]

I do like Nico.

[Leeds2]

Luca is lovely!

Paolo?

[HoneyandRum]

Yep I have to agree with your other half too OP, Nico is great (I was going to suggest Nicolas but your DP got there first!)

[Nocomet]

Your DH might be right the Anglo/Italian brothers I know are Matteo and Luca. So they might seem unoriginal if you have other Italian families about.

[curiousgeorgie]

Luca and Nico are my favourites!

[Nocomet]

I love Nico
(He's the rather mysterious and cool son of Hades in Percy Jackson. Ignore the pictures on Wiki some one has done absolutely awful cartoons that aren't how I see the char extents at all).

[Nocomet]

I wish I could spell characters

[Lurleene]

Giacomo - nickname Jack?

[YoHoHoandabottleofWine]

Ooo how lucky! Does it matter if names are popular in Italy? Where is the child growing up?

Other than Luca or Nico (both of which I love love love and might just have used already for one of my 1/4 italianos) , I would have an Enzo/ Lorenzo, or a Giorgio, or a Leo/ Leonardo (mind you with Raphael that might be a bit teenage ninja turtles). I like Giacomo but I think people in UK would struggle to pronouce that from reading it. I also really like the simple Roberto.

[mariposa1]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far - I really like Alessio and Lorenzo. Also love Leo but has been discounted for the Ninja Turtles connection!

Children will be growing up in the UK so it shouldn't really matter how popular names are in Italy, but I think for DP it's more about how many people he knows personally with a particular name - eg he has two good friends called Luca, his brother is called Marco...

Nico seems a popular choice then. I do like it a lot, just not sure it's 'the one'.

[Mireio]

Suggestions...

Tobias
Angelo
Massimo
Bruno
Maximilian
Emilio
Daniel
Sebastian
Julian
Leander
Fabian / Fabiano / Fabio
Samuel
Florian
Christian
Thomas
Evander
Leonardo
Carlo
Anton
Danilo
Lysander
Cosimo
Riccardo
Dante
Enzo
Giovanni
Ferdinand
Leandro
Orlando
Tomas
Sergio
Marius
Vasco
Alessandro

[UterusUterusGhali]

Nico or Rocco.

[thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter]

Ivo

[Oriunda]

I'm English and DH is Italian. Our DS is called Cosmo (FIL is Cosimo). We live in the UK but visit Italy often. Names need to be easily pronounced by your DH's family.

I like Niccolo. Better than Nicola (male in Italy but obviously not elsewhere!) and I would avoid any of the male 'a' names like Andrea.

Julian doesn't work as no j in Italian language. Hector nice but I think doesn't work in Italian (Ettore is the equivalent in Italian).

I would also suggest Alessandro (Alex) and Carlo as working well. Massimiliano is a mouthful or you could also Massimo but Max works well as a more usable nn. Eduardo also nice? Paolo? Riccardo good with Ricky as nn.

[Oriunda]

Sorry not your DH but DP. Problem in Italy is that there is not the vast choice of names that we have over here, often because they usually need a saint's name. Seems that every man and his dog is called Giuseppe or something where we are. Our son is the only Cosmo we know both here and in Italy.

Thinking about some of the more 'unusual' names of DH's friends, we know a Fabio and a Fabrizio. 'Fab' is a great nn!

[Nataleejah]

Ezio

[RalphRecklessCardew]

Weirdly, Walter (pronounced 'Valter' is an Italian name. Walter Veltroni was mayor of Rome recently.

I like Walter. Walt's a cute nn too.

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

Julian would work, as in Italian it would be Giuliano, pronounced exactly the same but with the O.

Luca and Matteo are hugely hugely popular, it's true. Fabio also very popular for a second male, once the obligatory Grandad has been honoured via Antonio/Giuseppe/Giovanni/Cosimo etc. (Dp has 4 nephews all called Antonio!)

I like Niccolo' a lot. And Nico is cool.

[mariposa1]

Thank you so much everyone, some really lovely names on these lists! I will be going through them all with DP later :)

[HoneyandRum]

Oh totally forgot my DS's best friend is Italian descent (we live in Germany) his name is Loris, which is Italian and the name of a famous Italian racing driver. Many other famous Italians called Loris if you Google, a great name, but then he is a fantastic boy.

[Oriunda]

Oh and don't forget middle names if you want to throw in a grandparent pleasing name! I know they're not the done thing in Italy (DS had 2 which raised eyebrows) but that way you can have your choice of name before chucking in a family name.

Loris is a great name!