Top Italian Names

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At the end of this week I will be jet-setting to Italy for two weeks! I am beyond excited, and to set the mood, I thought we would look at the top five names for each gender in Italy. The most recent data I could find was from 2012, but that shouldn't be too far off from this year's. Enjoy!

Girls:
1. Sofia- Same top name as the U.S., just with the Latin spelling as opposed to the Greek.
2. Giulia- The Italian Julia. I think this spelling is more pretty, though I wouldn't use it in the U.S.
3. Giorgia- What a gorgeous name. The English equivalent, Georgia is on the rise in America.
4. Martina- Martina is so lovely, yet she is not even ranked in our top 1000. What's up with that?
5. Emma- She's not very Italian, but it's easy to see why she is so popular in so many countries.

Boys:
1. Francesco- A romantic name that would work well on an American child. Also not in the top 1000.
2. Alessandro- You can't get more Italian than Alessandro.
3. Andrea- Considering this used to be a popular girl name in the U.S., I can't see this one working.
4. Lorenzo- A really cool way to honor a Lawrence. His popularity at 237 remains steady.
5. Matteo- A popular American celebrity baby name, often paired with Luca. Image Credit

Alternatives to Alexander

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Alexander is a great name. However, he's just too popular for some people. If you're in that boat, check out these alternatives.

Sight:
Alessandro- The Spanish form of Alexander. Definitely usable in America.
Anderson- Alexander's ending is Anderson's beginning. He feels a bit more upper crust than Alexander though.
Dexter- He's rising in popularity, due to the hit TV show. Dex makes a great nickname.

Sound:
Alistair- Another form of Alexander, but not nearly as widely used.
Calix- He's more similar to Alex than Alexander, but Calix is a really cool name.
Lysander- With the -ander names getting so popular, it's surprising that Lysander hasn't gotten any attention.

Style:
Adrian- I never liked it on a girl, Adrian seems so masculine to me.
Roman- They share ancient roots.
Sebastian- He's gaining speed on the charts, but Sebastian is not nearly at the level Alexander is.