Category Archives: Italian Names

Jared

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Hebrew  יָרֶד 
Meaning: “descent.”
Eng (JARE-ed)

The name is found in the Old Testament as the name of the great-great grandson of Adam , the son of Mahalalel and the father of Enoch. His history is mentioned in the apocryphal Book of Jubilees and the Book of Enoch. According to the Book of Enoch, Jared was named by Mahalalel because he was born during the time when the angels of the Lord descended to earth.

He is revered as a saint in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and in the Coptic Christian Church.

In the Book of Mormon it is borne by two characters, one is Jared the primary ancestor of the Jaredites who came to the Americas. It is also the name of a Jaredite king who dethroned his father Omer.

It is currently the 242nd most popular male name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

  • Jaredi (Albanian)
  • Yared  יָרֶד (Amharic/Coptic/Hebrew)
  • Jèred (Catalan)
  • Jered (Croatian/German/Polish)
  • Jared (Dutch/French/English/Scandinavian/Spanish)
  • Yered יֶרֶד (Hebrew)
  • Iared Иаред (Italian/Romanian/Russian)
  • Jarede (Portuguese)
The name is borne by actor and singer Jared Leto (b.1971)
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Marissa

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Italian/Spanish
Eng (muh-RIS-sah); It/Sp (mah-REE-sah)

The name is an anglicized form of the Italian and Spanish Marisa. In Italy, Marisa its more common in the Southern parts as a contraction of Maria Rosaria. In Spanish-speaking countries, it is used as a contraction of Maria Luisa.

Currently, Marissa is the 203rd most popular female name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms include:

  • Marissa (Dutch/English)
  • Marijse (Dutch)
  • Marise/Maryse (French)
  • Marisa Мари́са (German/Italian/Portuguese/Russian/Slovene/Spanish)
  • Marisella (Italian)
  • Marisetta (Italian)
  • Marisina (Italian)
The name is borne by actress, Marisa Tomei (b.1964)
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Brendan

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Irish
Meaning: “prince.”
(BREN-den)

The name is derived from the Latin Brendanus which is a late Latinzation of the Gaelic male name Bréanainn which is inturn derived from an Old Welsh word breenhín meaning “prince.”

The name was borne by a St. Brendan the Voyager who is considered one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland and is known for his legendary explorations of exotic lands one of the being the St. Brendan’s Island popularly speculated to be North America.

Currently, Brendan is the 229th most popular male name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

  • Brendan Брендан (Breton/English/German/Faroese/French/Icelandic/Polish/Russian/Scandinavian/Slovene/Ukrainian)
  • Brévalaire (Breton)
  • Brandà (Catalan)
  • Brandan (Catalan/Spanish)
  • Brandaan (Dutch)
  • Brennan (English)
  • Breandán (Gaelic)
  • Bréanainn (Gaelic. BREN-nen)
  • Brendano (Italian)
  • Brendanus (Late Latin)
  • Brendanas (Lithuanian)
  • Brandão (Portuguese)
  • Brendanu (Sicilian)
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Delilah

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Hebrew דְּלִילָה
Meaning: “delicate; weak; languishing.”
(di-LIE-lə)

The name is derived from the ancient Hebrew source dal meaning “delicate; weak; poor.” The name is found in the Old Testament in the Book of Judges 16 as the name of the woman Samson loved and who eventually ended up betraying him to Philistines. The name was never used among Jews due to the character’s bad associations, but for whatever reason, was a very popular name among the 17th-century Puritans of England and North America. It has only recently become common in the general population, more specifically Mexican-Americans. It has also recently come into usage in Israel.

Currently, Delilah is the 187th most popular female name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

  • Dalila (Catalan/Czech/French/Italian/Polish/Portuguese/Romanian/Spanish)
  • Delíla (Czech)
  • Delila (Dutch/German/Hungarian/Scandinavian)
  • Dalíla Дали́ла (Russian)
Sources

Miranda

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “admirable; wonderful”
Eng (mə-RAN-də)

The name is derived from the Latin word mirandus meaning “admirable; wonderful” it has the same root as the English word mirandous. The name seems to have been first used by William Shakespeare for a key character in his 1611 play The Tempest.

Currently, Miranda is the 175th most popular female name in the United States, (2010).

The name is used in Italy, Poland, Estonia, German, Scandinavia and in Spanish-speaking countries.

It is also the name of a satellite of Uranus.

Common short forms are Randa, Randy and Mira.

Source

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/miranda

Dante

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Italian
Meaning: “enduring.”
(DAHN-te)

The name is an Italian short form of the now archaic Italian male name Durante meaning “enduring.” It was popularized as an independent given name by the 13th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

Currently, Dante is the 255th most popular male name in the United States, (2010) and the  420th most popular in the Netherlands (2010).

Among Italian-Americans, the name was often anglicized as Danny.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Duran (English)
  • Durando (Italian)
  • Durante (Italian)
  • Durantino (Italian)
  • Durans (Late Latin)

Source

  1. http://www.behindthename.com/name/dante

Nehemiah

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Gender: Masculine
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: “comforted by Yahweh.”
nee-hə-MIE-ə

According to the Book of Nehemiah, he was responsible for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and strengthening the Jewish community after being released from Babylonian captivity.

Currently, Nehemiah is the 339th most popular male name in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

  • Neemija Неемия (Bulgarian/Russian/Serbian)
  • Nehemia (Dutch/Finnish)
  • Néhémie (French)
  • Neemias Νεεμίας (Greek: modern/Portuguese)
  • Nechemyah  נְחֶמְיָה (Hebrew)
  • Neemia (Italian)
  • Nehemja (Norwegian)
  • Nehemiasz (Polish)
  • Nehemias (Scandinavian)
  • Nehemiáš (Slovak)
  • Nejemija Неємія (Ukrainian)
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Esmeralda

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Gender: Feminine
Meaning: “emerald.”

The base name is the Greek Smaragda which is a feminine form of Smaragdos Σμάραγδος meaning, “emerald.” Its masculine and feminine forms were most likely used in the Pre-Christian Hellene world but were later popularized across Christian Europe in the vernacular forms we know today as Emerald, Esmeralda & Smeralda due to the cult of a 3rd-century Greek martyr and saint of the same name, as well as it’s associations with St. John the Apostle.

Contrary to popular belief, gemstone names have been in use as traditional female given name since at least the 12th-century. The old French form of Esmeraude is recorded in 13th-century France. Though unusual these days in French-speaking countries, Émeraude is a legitimate French feminine given name which has been in out of use since Medieval times.

Esméralda is currently borne by Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium (b. 1956).

It’s Spanish and Portuguese form of Esmeralda was used by Victor Hugo as the name of one of the key characters in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), which inspired several Ballets of the same name.

The gemstone itself is the birthstone of May. It is also the name of a genus of orchid.

Currently, Esmeralda is the 379th most popular female name in the United States, (2019), it peaked in popularity in 1998 when it was the 133rd most popular female name in the United States.

Emerald recently entered the U.S. Top 1000 in 2019, coming in at #968. It has been in and out of the U.S. Top 1000 since 1991.

It’s Turkish form of Zümra is currently the 19th most popular female name in Turkey.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Zümrüd (Azeri)
  • Smaragda (Belarusian/Bosnian/Bulgarian/Croatian/Greek/Lithuanian/Macedonian/Serbian/Slovene)
  • Maragda (Catalan)
  • Esmeralda (Czech/English/Icelandic/Ladino/Latvian/Polish/Swedish)
  • Smeraldina (Czech)
  • Émeraude (French)
  • Esmeralde (Old French)
  • Esmeraude (Old French)
  • Eszmeralda (Hungarian)
  • Smeralda (Italian)
  • Emerauda (Late Latin)
  • Smaralda (Romanian)
  • Zümrüt (Turkish)

Diminutives include:

  • Esminka (Czech)
  • Mera (Czech)
  • Esme (English)
  • Essie (English)

Masculine forms include:

  • Smaragdos Σμάραγδος (Greek)
  • Esmeraldo (Italian)
  • Smeraldo (Italian)
  • Smaragdus (Latin)
  • Smaragds (Latvian)
  • Smaragdas (Lithuanian)
  • Szmaragd (Polish)
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Hope

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Gender: Feminine
Origin: English

The name comes directly from the English word and has been in usage since the Middle Ages due to the popularity of a cult of sister saints, Hope, Faith and Charity.

Its popularity was in enhanced in the 17th-century due to its usage among the Puritans.

Currently, Hope is 245th most popular female name in the United States, (2010). Its Spanish cognate of Esperanza is currently the 75th most popular female name in Chile and the 948th most popular in the United States, (2010).

Other forms of the name include:

  • Nadzieja Надзе́я (Belarusian/Polish. nod-JAY-yah)
  • Nada (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian/Slovene)
  • Esperañs (Breton)
  • Esperança (Catalan/Portuguese)
  • Naděžda (Czech)
  • Spes (German/Latin)
  • Elpida Ελπίδα (Greek)
  • Elpis (Greek/Coptic)
  • Hopeful (English: a popular female name among Puritans)
  • Hopestill (English: a popular female name among Puritans)
  • Hopewell (English: a popular female name among Puritans)
  • Espérance (French)
  • Speranza (Italian)
  • Speranță (Romanian)
  • Nadezhda наде́жд (Russian)
  • Spiranza (Sicilian)
  • Esperanza (Spanish)
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Sabrina

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The name is first recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (c.1136) as the name of a princess drowned in the River Severn. Her story is the subject of John Milton’s Comus.

The same story later inspired Samuel A. Taylor’s 1953 stage play Sabrina Fair which was later adapted into a movie starring Audrey Hepburn.

The name did not come into regular usage until the 20th-century, most likely being popularized by the play and movie.

In the 1960s, Sabrina the Teenage Witch was a comic series that debuted.

It is currently the 219th most popular female name in the United States (2010).

Its popularity in other countries is as follows:

  • # 268 (France, 2009)
  • # 491 (the Netherlands, 2010)

The name is also used in German-speaking countries, Greece, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Slovenia.

Other forms of the name include:

  • Sabriina (Finnish)
  • Hafren (Welsh)
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