Italian Renaissance Women's Names

by Rhian Lyth of Blackmoor Vale (Jo Lori Drake)

Below is a list of Italian feminine names from Florence in the 14th and 15th centuries, part of the list compiled by Lady Rhian Lyth of Blackmoor Vale. The names were compiled from The Society of Renaissance Florence: A Documentary Study (ed. Gene Bruckerm New York: Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Row, Inc.), which is a collection of diaries and documents of the period, and from The Autobiography of Benevenuto Cellini, as published by Penguin Books. Some of these names are diminutive forms or nicknames derived from other name, but all were used independently in formal legal documents. Most names occur once or twice in these sources; the names which occurred four or more times are in bold face.

Anyone who thinks that the range of period female names is too narrow, count how many of these you've never encountered in the SCA.

Agnella
Agnese
Agnola
Alessandra
Anastasia
Andrea
Andreuola
Angela
Antonia
Bandecca
Bartola
Bartolomea
Bella
Belloza
Bice
Bona
Buona
Catalina
Caterina
Chola
Cicilia
Ciecherella
Ciosa
Ciuta
Cristina
Dea
Diana
Dolce
Druda
Elizabeth
Fiametta
Filippa
Fiora
Flora
Francesca
Gemma
Ghinga
Ghita
Gianetta
Gilia
Ginevra
Giovanna
Giuliana
Gostanza
Grana
Isabetta
Jacopa
Joanna
Lagia
Lapa
Lena
Leonarda
Letta
Lippa
Lisa
Lisabetta
Lorenza
Lucia
Lucrezia
Madelena
Magdalena
Margherita
Maria
Marsilia
Martinella
Masina
Mea
Nanna
Mella
Nencia
Nezetta
Nicolosa
Novella
Nucca
Pasqua
Pia
Piera
Paula
Rigarda
Riguardatta
Salvaza
Sandra
Santa
Serena
Simona
Stella
Taddea
Tessa
Tita
Tomasia
Tommasa
Veroncia

Rhian Lyth
jldrake@tasc.com