A large cluster of Italian names that start with ‘S’ consists of those derived from the Latin word “silva” (which means “forest”), which, by the way, is also the origin of the Italian word “selva” (which means “forest” as well).
This cluster includes male names like Silvio, Silvestro, Silvano, and Silverio, alongside female names like Silvia, Silvana, and Selvaggia.
A group of Italian names that begin with ‘S’ corresponds to ordinal numbers. These names are Secondo (second), Sesto (sixth), and Settimo (seventh).
In the same way that the name Primo (which means “first”) could be given to a firstborn son, the same logic could, in historical times, have been used for these other number-based names.
The Italian names Sigfrido and Sigismondo come from Germanic languages, and their initial ‘S’ is a result of them being formed from a Germanic word meaning “victory” (which is the origin of the German word “Sieg” which also means “victory”)
The Italian word “salvatore” means “savior”, and its capitalized form, Salvatore, is an Italian male name. The Spanish form of the name (Salvador) is also well known due to Salvador Dalí, the Spanish surrealist artist, and Salvador Allende, a former president of Chile.
Sereno is the male version of the Italian female name Serena. They originate from the Latin adjective “serēnus” which means “serene” and “tranquil”. That Latin word is also the origin of the term “La Serenissima”, a name for Venice dating from the time when it was an independent republic.
The Italian name Serse comes from Xerxes, the Greek form of an ancient Persian name. As the Italian language doesn’t really use the letter ‘x’ (except in loanwords like “taxi”), that letter is converted to an ‘s’ in the Italian spelling of this name.
Sirio, in addition to being a male name, is also the Italian name of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
The Italian name Sergio comes from the Latin name Sergius, which is also the origin of Sergey (in Russian) and Serge (in French).
Sandro is a name that originated as a shorter form of Alessandro, the Italian version of the name Alexander.
A famous namesake can add extra appeal to a name. In the case of Italian names that begin with ‘S’, famous individuals with such names include well-known artists, musicians, and film directors.
| Name | Occupation |
|---|---|
| Sandro Botticelli | Italian Renaissance painter whose masterpiece The Birth of Venus is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy |
| Silvio Berlusconi | Italian politician and former Prime Minister of Italy |
| Sergio Leone | Italian film director who directed the movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly starring Clint Eastwood |
| Stefano Gabbana | Co-founder of the Dolce & Gabbana fashion brand |
| Saverio Mercadante | Italian composer |
| Salvatore Quasimodo | Italian poet, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| Silvana Mangano | Italian actress |
| Stelvio Cipriani | Italian composer |