Nicknames in the Italian Language

 

 

Soprannomi 

Nicknames 

“Tutti hanno un nome.” Italians say. (Everyone has a name.) But in Italy many people and places also have soprannomi (literally "above the name") or nomignoli (nicknames). 

Locals call Rome’s Spanish Steps La Scalinata (from scala, for stairs), St. Peter’s  Il Cupolone (the Big Dome) and the national Senate La Madama (for the Palazzo Madama). Venice has been dubbed La Serenissima (the most serene one) and Genoa La Superba (the arrogant one). Bologna goes by three nicknames: La Dotta (the learned one, for its ancient university), La Grassa (the fat one, for its rich cuisine) and La Rossa (the red one, for its left-wing politics). 

The Roman Emperor Gaio Giulio Cesare Germanico has gone down in history as Caligula, from the word for the shoes that legionaries used to wear. Nero is always Nerone (Big Nero) in Italian. Attila the King of the Huns (il re degli Unni) was feared as “Flagello di Dio” (the scourge of God) for his cruelty. Lorenzo de’ Medici (above), the magnificent and magnanimous patron of Renaissance artists in Florence, was hailed as Il Magnifico. 

Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy’s George Washington, earned the nickname of “l’eroe dei due mondi” (hero of two worlds) for his military campaigns in South America as well as Italy. Much more recently Tommaso Buscetta, a famous Mafioso, was dubbed “Il boss dei due mondi” (the boss of two worlds). Mussolini was known as Il Duce (the leader). Journalists refer to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as il Cavaliere (the Knight). 

We know the artist Alessandro di Mariano dei Filipepi as “Botticelli” (little barrels) because his family were barrel-makers. Jacopo Comin, son of a dyer, was called “Tintoretto” but the blazing energy of his works inspired the nickname Il Furioso. Michelangelo, the master of masters, had two nicknames: La Terribilita for his fierce temperament and Il Divino for his divine talent. 

To many Italians Frank Sinatra will always be La Voce (the Voice) and Maria Callas La Divina (the divine one). Papa Giovanni XXIII (Pope John the 23rd) is remembered as “il Papa buono” (the good Pope). A newspaper headline, neatly summing up the misadventures of Britney Spears, dubbed her “La Scandalosa.” 

Nicknames such as Suararo (Corkmaker), Gravunari (Coal Miner) and  Cucchieriello (Coachman) came from occupations, some now obsolete, that were handed down from generation to generation. A notorious 19th-century bandit of Emilia-Romagna, who terrorized travelers and townspeople for decades, was called Il Passatore, the Ferryman, for his father’s profession. 

Other nicknames are based on appearance. An ugly woman may be known as Befana (the Epiphany witch). A short woman (like myself) could become Tappo (cork), Nana (dwarf) or Gnoma (gnome). If she marries, as I did, a tall man (who might be nicknamed Vatusso from the extremely tall Watusi of Africa), they form an “il” (the combination of a little i and a tall l that translates into “the”). 

Some nicknames come from the Bible. An unfortunate soul is a povero Cristo (poor Christ); a traitor, a Giuda (Judas); and a very old person, a Matusalemme (from long-living Methuselah). 

Geography inspires other epithets. Southern Italians deride Northerners as “polentoni” (big polenta eaters) because that food once sustained the population. Northerners fire back with "terroni" (big dirt guys), a reference to the peasants of the South. 

“Yanks” used to be the most common nickname for Americans. In recent years it’s been replaced, unfortunately, by the all-too-apt culoni (big butts). 

Words and Expressions 

essere soprannominato  -- to be nicknamed 

etichettare qualcuno come… –- to label someone as… 

cicerone -- a tour guide, from the Roman writer Cicero 

“(name) di nome e di fatto” -- someone who has a name that perfectly reflects a personality trait or physical characteristic. A very fair-skinned woman named Bianca (white) would be “Bianca di nome e di fatto.”

Click below to listen to Lucia, the heroine of Puccini’s La Boheme, explain why everyone uses her nickname in “Mi chiamano Mimi” (They Call Me Mimi): 

Dianne Hales is the author of La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language. 

Comments

[dianne]

Thanks for your comments. And I love the story from the Guardian!

[Patty]

I'm very interested in Italian history and this post was a great mix of information and hilarity, thanks for posting!

[Jann Huizenga]

An interesting and funny post! Thanks! This comes from a recent article in guardian.co.uk:

"The inhabitants of a small Italian town where 8,000 residents share the same surname have won a legal battle to use their nicknames, including "Fat", "Mad" and "Peasant", on all official documents. For more than 200 years, the people of Chioggia near Venice, have used the nicknames to distinguish between distantly related families, but they were never officially recognised..."