Popular baby names in Italy, 2020

According to Italy’s ISTAT (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica), the most popular baby names in the country in 2020 were Sofia and Leonardo.

Here are Italy’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

1. Sofia, 5,604 baby girls (2.87%)
2. Giulia, 5,012
3. Aurora, 4,987
4. Ginevra, 3,657
5. Alice, 3,333
6. Beatrice, 3,162
7. Emma, 3,069
8. Giorgia, 2,701
9. Vittoria, 2,677
10. Matilde, 2,545

Boy Names

1. Leonardo, 8,604 baby boys (4.15%)
2. Francesco, 5,422
3. Alessandro, 5,009
4. Lorenzo, 4,841
5. Mattia, 4,711
6. Tommaso, 4,308
7. Gabriele, 4,237
8. Andrea, 4,041
9. Riccardo, 4,025
10. Edoardo, 3,785

In the girls’ top 10, Matilde replaced Greta (now in 16th place).

The boys’ top 10 includes the same names, but in a slightly different order.

Notably, Leonardo held an even more commanding lead in 2020 (4.15%) than in 2019 (3.64%). More than 1 in 25 baby boys were named Leonardo last year.

Also notable is the rise of Azzurra during the early 21st century. I didn’t realize until writing about a Scots-Italian baby named Azzurra last year that this name could be a reference to Italy’s national soccer team, known as gli Azzurri (“the Blues”) because the players wear Savoy azure. The baby name Azzurra entered Italy’s top 50 in 2017 and was ranked 27th for girls last year.

• 2020: 1,334 Italian baby girls named Azzurra (ranked 27th)
• 2019: 1,059 Italian baby girls named Azzurra (ranked 38th)
• 2018: 1,041 Italian baby girls named Azzurra (ranked 40th)
• 2017: 926 Italian baby girls named Azzurra (ranked 47th)
• 2016: 788 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
• 2015: 848 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
• 2014: 628 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
• 2013: 652 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
• 2012: 540 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
• 2011: 459 Italian baby girls named Azzurra

How high do you think it could climb?

In 2019, the top two names in Italy were also Sofia and Leonardo.

Sources: How many babies are named…? – Istat, Italy national football team – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Italy (public domain). Graph from Istat.