How popular is the baby name Giuseppe in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Giuseppe.

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Popularity of the baby name Giuseppe


Posts that mention the name Giuseppe

Where did the baby name Radames come from in 1950?

Richard Tucker (Radamès) and Herva Nelli (Aida) in the NBC radio/TV broadcast of "Aida" in 1949.
Richard Tucker and Herva Nelli performing “Aida“

The curious name Radames has appeared in the U.S. baby name data rather consistently since the early ’50s.

  • 1952: 5 baby boys named Radames – all 5 born in NY
  • 1951: 6 baby boys named Radames – all 6 born in NY
  • 1950: 5 baby boys named Radames [debut]
  • 1949: unlisted
  • 1948: unlisted

The name Radames was created by Giuseppe Verdi for the opera Aida (1871), which was set in ancient Egypt. The character Radamès was a soldier involved in a love triangle: he was in love with Aida, the Ethiopian slave of Princess Amneris, who was in love with him.

A full concert-version of Aida was performed by the NBC Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Arturo Toscanini) in New York City in 1949. The performance — featuring tenor Richard Tucker as Radamès and soprano Herva Nelli as Aida — aired not just on radio, but also on television. Due to length, it was divided into two broadcasts (March 26 and April 2).

Thanks to these broadcasts, more people experienced a performance of Aida at one time “than had seen the work performed in the previous 60-some years of its existence.” This could account for the debut of Radames in 1950. After all, the name Aida saw increased usage in 1949, and much of that increase happened in New York specifically:

  • 1951: 105 baby girls named Aida – 39 (37%) born in NY
  • 1950: 107 baby girls named Aida – 42 (39%) born in NY
  • 1949: 112 baby girls named Aida – 50 (45%) born in NY
  • 1948: 73 baby girls named Aida – 31 (42%) born in NY
  • 1947: 76 baby girls named Aida – 32 (42%) born in NY

That said…there’s also immigration to consider.

Puerto Rican immigration to New York City peaked in the early 1950s. The name was already in use on the island, so some of the 1950s New York usage of Radames is no doubt attributable to Puerto Rican families. (And this is on top of the pre-existing low-level usage of Radames in the city thanks to the Italians.) So immigration is another possible explanation for the debut.

Actor Sophia Loren as the title character in the movie "Aida" (1954).
Sophia Loren in “Aida“

But, getting back to the opera…in October of 1954, a movie-version of Aida (starring teenage Italian actress Sophia Loren) was released in the U.S. The same year, we see higher usage of both Aida and Radames:

Girls named AidaBoys named Radames
1956163 [rank: 766th]9
1955173 [rank: 718th]7
1954193 [rank: 669th†]10
1953129 [rank: 810th].
1952128 [rank: 800th]5
†Peak ranking

So we can assume that pop culture had at least some influence on these names during the ’50s.

What are your thoughts on the name Radames? Which factor — radio/TV or immigration — do you think had more of an influence on the usage of Radames in 1950?

Sources:

Popular baby names in Italy, 2021

Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy

The Southern European country of Italy — that boot-shaped peninsula that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea — shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.

Last year, Italy welcomed 400,249 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Leonardo.

Here are Italy’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia, 5,578 baby girls (2.86%)
  2. Aurora, 4,991
  3. Giulia, 4,616
  4. Ginevra, 3,803
  5. Beatrice, 3,647
  6. Alice, 3,392
  7. Vittoria, 3,202
  8. Emma, 2,876
  9. Ludovica, 2,813
  10. Matilde, 2,633
  11. Giorgia, 2,359
  12. Camilla, 2,343
  13. Chiara, 2,320
  14. Anna, 2,291
  15. Bianca, 2,201
  16. Nicole, 2,169
  17. Gaia, 2,088
  18. Martina, 2,069
  19. Greta, 2,052
  20. Azzurra, 1,673
  21. Sara, 1,651
  22. Arianna, 1,647
  23. Noemi, 1,639
  24. Rebecca, 1,533
  25. Mia, 1,494
  26. Isabel, 1,422
  27. Adele, 1,349
  28. Chloe, 1,317
  29. Elena, 1,298
  30. Francesca, 1,260
  31. Gioia, 1,202
  32. Ambra, 1,171
  33. Viola, 1,152
  34. Carlotta, 1,149
  35. Cecilia, 1,144
  36. Diana, 1,117
  37. Alessia, 1,101
  38. Elisa, 1,086
  39. Emily, 1,070
  40. Marta, 1,066
  41. Maria, 989
  42. Margherita, 988
  43. Anita, 978
  44. Giada, 972
  45. Eleonora, 926
  46. Nina, 856
  47. Miriam, 842
  48. Asia, 823
  49. Amelia, 805
  50. Diletta, 804 – means “beloved” in Italian.

Boy Names

  1. Leonardo, 8,448 baby boys (4.12%)
  2. Alessandro, 4,975
  3. Tommaso, 4,973
  4. Francesco, 4,924
  5. Lorenzo, 4,642
  6. Edoardo, 4,369
  7. Mattia, 4,215
  8. Riccardo, 3,992
  9. Gabriele, 3,944
  10. Andrea, 3,860
  11. Diego, 2,946
  12. Matteo, 2,867
  13. Nicolò, 2,847
  14. Giuseppe, 2,740
  15. Antonio, 2,598
  16. Federico, 2,546
  17. Pietro, 2,247
  18. Samuele, 2,225
  19. Giovanni, 2,211
  20. Filippo, 2,113
  21. Enea, 1,963 – form of Aeneas.
    • According to Greek mythology, the Trojan hero Aeneas was an ancestor of twins Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. One ancient source associates Aeneas’ name with the Greek adjective ainos, meaning “unspeakable, causing nervousness, fear, terror.”
  22. Davide, 1,925
  23. Christian, 1,738
  24. Gioele, 1,722
  25. Giulio, 1,713
  26. Michele, 1,685
  27. Marco, 1,541
  28. Gabriel, 1,439
  29. Elia, 1,403
  30. Luca, 1,400
  31. Salvatore, 1,374
  32. Vincenzo, 1,333
  33. Emanuele, 1,326
  34. Thomas, 1,322
  35. Alessio, 1,251
  36. Giacomo, 1,197
  37. Nathan, 1,192
  38. Liam, 1,174
  39. Simone, 1,166
  40. Samuel, 1,133
  41. Jacopo, 1,129
  42. Noah, 1,097
  43. Daniele, 1,050
  44. Giorgio, 1,025
  45. Ettore, 1,002 – form of Hector.
  46. Luigi, 996
  47. Daniel, 946
  48. Manuel, 936
  49. Nicola, 859
  50. Damiano, 830

Leonardo is still the clear favorite for baby boys, while Azzurra — no doubt inspired by Italy’s national soccer team gli Azzurri, “the Blues” — continues its rise among baby girls:

Graph of the popularity of the baby name Azzurra in Italy from 1999 to 2021.
Popularity of Azzurra in Italy, 1999-2021

Here are Italy’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: How many babies are named…? – Istat, Istat Statistics, Behind the Name, Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (transl. by Gregory Nagy)

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

Babies named for Giuseppe Garibaldi

Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882)
Giuseppe Garibaldi

Italian general and patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) was a freedom fighter on two continents.

In his homeland, he strove to liberate the Italian states from Austrian rule, and played a crucial role in the unification of Italy in the early 1860s.

And, while he was in exile in South America (1836-1848), he participated in the revolutionary struggles of both Brazil and Uruguay.

As you might imagine, thousands of babies born in Europe — and thousands more born in South America — have been named after Giuseppe Garibaldi. (We spotted a Uruguayan baby named Garibaldi just a few months ago!)

But what about the U.S.?

Turns out that Garibaldi was strongly admired in the U.S. as well, particularly around the time of the Civil War:

Garibaldi’s thrilling deeds — unfolding day-by-day through 1860 on the front page of almost every newspaper, alongside stories detailing America’s own dissolution — stood as both an inspiration and a rebuke.

Several hundred U.S baby boys — most born during the 1860s — have been named after Garibaldi. Some examples…

  • Garibaldi Stevens (b. 1860 in Utah)
  • John Garibaldi Sargent (b. 1860 in Vermont), who served as U.S. Attorney General under Calvin Coolidge.
  • Garibaldi Dunn (b. 1861 in Kentucky)
    • He had a brother, born in 1863, named Ellsworth.
  • Eldon Garibaldi Burdick (b. 1862 in Wisconsin)
    • Both his son and his grandson were also named “Eldon Garibaldi.”
  • John Garibaldi Weihe (b. 1862 in Ohio), who played Major League Baseball in the 1880s.
  • Garibaldi Krantz (b. 1862 in Pennsylvania)
  • Garibaldi Niles (b. 1866 in Illinois)
    • He had a brother, born in 1849, named Kossuth — likely for Lajos Kossuth, who ruled Hungary during the revolution of 1848-1849.
  • Antonio Giuseppe Garibaldi Pellegrini (b. 1867 in New York)
  • Joseph Garibaldi Potter (b. 1869 in Pennsylvania)
  • Joseph Garibaldi Lanfranconi (b. 1874 in Virginia)
  • Rudolph Garibaldi Neverman (b. 1875 in Wisconsin)

The Italian surname Garibaldi, which is based on the medieval personal name Garibaldo, ultimately comes from the ancient Germanic words ger, meaning “spear, lance,” and bald, meaning “bold, brave.”

Interestingly, Giuseppe Garibaldi named two of his sons after fellow Italian patriots. Menotti, born in Brazil in 1840, was named for Ciro Menotti, while Ricciotti, born in Uruguay in 1847, was named for Nicola Ricciotti.

P.S. Giuseppe is pronounced joo-ZEHP-peh.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Garibaldi (1866)

Popular and unique baby names in Uruguay, 2020

Flag of Uruguay
Flag of Uruguay

According to Uruguay’s Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil (DNIC), the most popular baby names in the country in 2020 were technically Emma and Juan.

But if accented “María” and unaccented “Maria” had been counted together, María would have easily taken the #1 spot.

Uruguay’s baby name rankings consist of girl and boy names mixed together on a single list. The data mostly represents first-name usage, but does include some second-name usage as well. (This is because the rankings are created from Uruguayan identity card data, and Uruguayans are permitted to add up to two given names to their ID cards.)

That said, here are Uruguay’s top 100+ baby names of 2020:

  1. Juan, 861 babies
  2. Emma, 682
  3. Mateo, 611
  4. María, 564
  5. Julieta, 495
  6. Martina, 477
  7. Felipe, 460
  8. Lorenzo, 408
  9. Isabella, 400
  10. Catalina, 383
  11. Maria, 378
  12. Sofía, 372
  13. Emilia, 358
  14. Thiago, 354
  15. Santino, 347
  16. Lucas, 334
  17. Dante, 330
  18. Lautaro, 327
  19. Delfina, 320
  20. Benjamín, 315
  21. Bautista, 312 (tie)
  22. Santiago, 312 (tie)
  23. Olivia, 310
  24. Joaquín, 259
  25. Zoe, 249
  26. Emily, 236 (tie)
  27. Paulina, 236 (tie)
  28. Francisco, 235
  29. Renata, 233
  30. Francesca, 227
  31. Bruno, 222 (tie)
  32. Luis, 222 (tie)
  33. Carlos, 220 (tie)
  34. Clara, 220 (tie)
  35. Facundo, 215
  36. Emiliano, 211
  37. Valentino, 209
  38. Ana, 208
  39. Mía, 203
  40. Valentina, 199
  41. Josefina, 194 (3-way tie)
  42. Juana, 194 (3-way tie)
  43. Maite, 194 (3-way tie)
  44. Agustina, 192 (tie)
  45. Tomás, 192 (tie)
  46. Luciano, 188
  47. Alfonsina, 186 (tie)
  48. Bastian, 186 (tie)
  49. Enzo, 184
  50. Dylan, 182
  51. Agustín, 180
  52. Nahitan, 175
  53. Jorge, 172
  54. Bianca, 170
  55. Valentín, 167
  56. Liam, 164
  57. Mia, 161
  58. José, 160
  59. Renzo, 159
  60. Franco, 155 (tie)
  61. Manuel, 155 (tie)
  62. Benicio, 154
  63. Ian, 152
  64. Ignacio, 150
  65. Camila, 149
  66. Victoria, 148
  67. Diego, 143
  68. Oriana, 142
  69. Pedro, 140
  70. Milagros, 137
  71. Alma, 131 (tie)
  72. Pilar, 131 (tie)
  73. Camilo, 129 (3-way tie)
  74. Guillermo, 129 (3-way tie)
  75. Vicente, 129 (3-way tie)
  76. Noah, 128
  77. Ciro, 127 (tie)
  78. Julia, 127 (tie)
  79. Salvador, 126
  80. Alfonso, 125
  81. Ramiro, 124
  82. Daniel, 120
  83. Máximo, 117
  84. Faustino, 115
  85. Jose, 114
  86. Samuel, 113
  87. Faustina, 111
  88. Alejandro, 110
  89. Federico, 109
  90. Genaro, 107
  91. Maia, 106 (tie)
  92. Pablo, 106 (tie)
  93. Lara, 105
  94. Sofia, 103
  95. Guillermina, 102
  96. Ámbar, 100
  97. Eduardo, 99
  98. Lucía, 98
  99. Federica, 96 (tie)
  100. Tadeo, 96 (tie)
  101. Theo (95)
  102. Luciana, 94 (tie)
  103. Sara, 94 (tie)
  104. Tiziano, 92
  105. Alexander, 91 (tie)
  106. Rafael, 91 (tie)
  107. Julián, 90 (3-way tie)
  108. Luana, 90 (3-way tie)
  109. Nicolás, 90 (3-way tie)
  110. Benjamin, 88
  111. Aitana, 86 (3-way tie)
  112. Bruna, 86 (3-way tie)
  113. Leonardo, 86 (3-way tie)
  114. Florencia, 85
  115. Rodrigo, 84
  116. David, 83 (4-way tie)
  117. Gael, 83 (4-way tie)
  118. Joaquina, 83 (4-way tie)
  119. Matías, 83 (4-way tie)
  120. Miguel, 80
  121. Gabriel, 79 (tie)
  122. Jazmín, 79 (tie)
  123. Alex, 78 (tie)
  124. Axel, 78 (tie)

(I went down far enough to ensure that at least fifty girl names were included…and then a little farther, because that 2-way tie between the 4-letter anagram names Alex and Axel is kind of adorable. :)

I’ve never looked at rankings for Uruguay before, so I don’t have past rankings to compare these to. But here are a few of the names from lower down on the list:

  • 35 babies were named Celeste, which is the nickname (El Celeste, “the sky-blue”) of Uruguay’s national soccer team.
  • 11 were named Edinson, which is the first name of Uruguayan soccer player Edinson Cavani.
  • 8 were named Nairobi, which is a female character from the popular Spanish-language TV series La casa de papel (English title: Money Heist).
  • 2 were named Tabaré, which was the first name of Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez (who both left office and passed away in 2020).
    • The name comes from Uruguayan literature: The main character of the epic poem Tabaré (1888) by Juan Zorrilla de San Martín is an indigenous Charrúa man named Tabaré.

Finally, because Uruguay releases all of its baby name data, we can check out the unique names at the other end of the spectrum as well. Here’s a selection Uruguay’s single-use baby names of 2020:

Atahualpa, Brislady, Crisbely, Duckenson, Elubina, Fritznel, Garibaldi, Hartmut, Izpabelli, Juanfer, Khantuta, Leovisnel, Missber, Norquides, Olgalisy, Pierangely, Quinto, Roismerl, Szabolcs, Tonatiuh, Tonantzín, Urumana, Viorky, Wanderson, Xilianny, Yusnavi, Zolanch

Some possible explanations/associations:

  • Atahualpa – the last emperor of the Inca
  • Garibaldi – 19th-century Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi
  • Pierangely – Italian actress Pier Angeli
  • Tonatiuh – Nahua (Aztec) sun deity
  • Tonantzín – Nahuatl honorific title meaning “our mother”

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Uruguay (public domain)

[Latest update: Jul. 2023]