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.

Nico is nice.

Not alessandro please. You don't want to be a teenage called Alice!

Bruno is Italian too.
Also Francesco.

I like Luca, but it often seems to be used as a girl's name in England, so I'm not sure it's a good choice.

Alessandro usually gets shortened to Alex, Sandro or Ale, not Aless.

Giovanni, Gio for short?

Following thread with interest! I am English but was born and raised in Italy and always wanted an Italian element to my children's names. DS is Edward, but we call him Edo a lot of the time, short for Edoardo. I always wanted a name that you can easily say in Italian. Am just pg with DC2 so looking out for some tips ;)

Likewise there are so many names that sound better in Italian - I like Alexander, but I LOVE Alessandro. And don't get me started on girls names that are things of beauty in Italian... Beatrice, Gaia, Federica, Agnese...

I like Salvatore too - Salvo for short.

Francis/Franceso? Frank/ie for short?

Lorenzo is a lovely name - my nephew is Lawrence and we call him Loro, although in Italy it is shortened to Lore or Lollo.

I like Niccolo too. Beware Nicola though, for obvious reasons. Same with Andrea.

(just noticed someone else has said the same thing above..)

I love love love Luca!

You mention the teenage mutant ninja turtles connection with Leo...Raphael was the turtle in the red bandanna!

I think you meant you don't want 2 turtle names as opposed to just the one.

Just to add about Luca- I've never met or heard of a female Luca here in SE England.

I've only met boys called Luca...no girls, hasn't crossed my mind that it could be for a female.
One of my good friends has a gorgeous son called Luca.

amandine7 yes sorry I meant I didn't want two Ninja Turtle names - I didn't realise they were still popular but apparently they are (and they're bringing out a new film this year!). Shame as I really love Leo.

DP is really not a big fan of Luca, he seems to be the only one as everyone else I know loves it.

flipflops I really do like Lorenzo and all the nickname potential...

Lorenzo really is a gorgeous name. And Enzo is such a cool nickname. If you can't have a Luca, then if I was you I would definitely have a Lorenzo.

Good luck! Wishing baby a safe arrival.

My husbands family is Italian - we have an Alessio in the family which is nice. Enzo is usually short for something like Lorenzo or Vincenzo.

I love the name Aldo, our neighbours in Sicily have a little boy called Aldo and he is very cute. We also have:

Daniele
Antonio
Angelo
Giorgio
Claudio

I think Lorenzo is now second choice after Nico. We like both, but, according to DP, Lorenzo is a 'bit of an old man's name'

DP actually seems to favour English names over Italian ones - seems such a shame when the italian ones sound so beautiful to me!

If we go down the 'English' route, I still want Oscar (although apparently there are Oscars in Italy, I don't think of it as an Italian name at all!)