Beyond ‘Fred’: Italian Names for Characters
Image by cloudsoup via Flickr
Tired of games where all the characters are named Ariel or Thorin? What a character name that sounds distinctive but not too far out? What about using a real-world name? Perhaps something historical or from another culture. In earlier editions of Beyond Fred, I covered Roman and Russian names. But what if you want something more fluid or lyrical sounding? Perhaps an Italian name will fit the bill.
Italian Name Structure
Like most Western names, Italian names are comprised of a first name followed by a last name, usually the father’s name. According to Wikipedia, occasionally in official documents the last name will be listed first.
Pronouncing Italian names can be a little tricky. Pronunciation of Italian names has a search box where you can enter a name and listen to the correct pronunciation. You can also find detailed information on pronouncing Italian names at Roma Interactive.
These are by no means historically accurate. These lists are intended to be used for gaming where historical accuracy isn’t as important as how a name sounds.
Italian Names
Male Names
- Abaco
- Acario
- Addo
- Agosto
- Arrone
- Balderico
- Beltramo
- Casimiro
- Clodoveo
- Dalmazio
- Ercole
- Fedele
- Giacomo
- Lorenzo
- Lothario
- Marcello
- Massimo
- Orazio
- Pino
- Raffaele
- Raul
- Rinaldo
- Rodolfo
- Salvetore
- Serafino
- Serge
- Severino
- Tancredo
- Vencentio
- Vittore
- Zanipolo
Female Names
- Acilia
- Altea
- Aniela
- Assunta
- Benigna
- Bibiana
- Casilda
- Chiara
- Damiana
- Donata
- Esta
- Fiammetta
- Fiorella
- Ghita
- Giacinta
- Isabella
- Jolanda
- Lucia
- Marsala
- Mia
- Perla
- Rosabla
- Sidonia
- Sienna
- Tessa
- Vani
- Varanese
- Venitia
- Vittoria
- Zita
- Zola
Surnames
- Bianchi
- Cavallo
- Contadino
- de Luca
- di Genova
- Esposito
- Forni
- La Porta
- Martelli
- Montagna
- Mosca
- Rossi
- Selvaggio
- Tenagila
- Trovato
- Volpe
Other Articles in this Series
- Beyond ‘Fred’: Roman Names for Characters
- Beyond ‘Fred’: Russian Names for Characters
- Beyond ‘Fred’: Anglo-Saxon Names for Characters
Sources
- Italian Baby Boy Names
- Italian Baby Girl Names
- Italian Baby Names and Italian Last Names
- Italian Surname Meanings & Origins
- Italian Surnames: Ethymology and Origin
- Wikipedia: Italian Name
2 Responses to “Beyond ‘Fred’: Italian Names for Characters”
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Some of the names you listed are almost never used, and few are misspelled. If you don’t mind I’ve reorganized for you the “male” list
UNLIKELY (especially in modern day settings, but useful for ancient Rome and medieval games)
Abaco
Acario
Addo
Agosto
Arrone
Balderico
Beltramo
Casimiro
Clodoveo
Dalmazio
Orazio
Lothario >mispelled > Lotario
Zanipolo
UNCOMMON
Ercole
Danilo
Raul (technically is a spanish name)
Rinaldo
Rodolfo
Serafino
Tancredo>Mispelled>Tancredi
Severino
Vittore
COMMON
Alessandro
Antonio
Claudio
Fedele
Gabriele
Giacomo
Giuseppe
Lorenzo
Marcello
Massimo
Michele
Paolo
Pietro
Pino (short for Giuseppe as “Tony” for “Antony”)
Raffaele
Roberto
Salvetore>Mispelled>Salvatore
Serge>Mispelled>Sergio
Stefano
Vencentio>Mispelled>Vincenzo
Vito
Vittorio
@Dispari Thanks so much for the input. It’s nice to have a list of common and uncommon names. Because I was aiming at fantasy games, I did deliberately choose more uncommon ones. The list of common names will be very nice to have for modern and near-future games.