Giovanni

What Giovanni means

Same root as John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”

Doublet of John || From Middle English John, Johan, Johannes, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, Johan, and also Old English Iohannes, both from Late Latin Iōhannēs, variant of Latin Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yôḥānān),

Source: Wiktionary, “Giovanni” (revision 94576882) and “John” (revision 94540597), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Giovanni?

US: Steady: #130 in 2015, #123 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #692 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2010, when 3,434 boys got the name (#117 that year). First in the US records in 1907.

How common

• About 1 in 581 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,532 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,910 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DE (5.43 per 1,000 boys), NM (4.62 per 1,000 boys), RI (4.48 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Giovanni is #123 in the US and #497 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.5% of US babies named Giovanni were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Giovani148 US · 3 E&W
• Jiovanni108 US
• Geovanni79 US
• Giovanny78 US
• Giovonni53 US
• Geovanny34 US
• Geovani22 US
• Jiovani21 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Giovanni

Boys

• Joaquin#355Spanish form of Joachim, meaning “may Yahweh raise up”^*
• Alessandro#497Italian form of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Leonardo#91Italian, from Old French Leonard, meaning “as strong as a lion”^*
• Luca#14Form of Lucy, meaning “light”^*
• Maximo#580Editor’s note Up from #853 in 2015 to #580 in 2025 in the US
• Mateo#8Same root as Matthew, meaning “gift of the Lord”^*

For a sister

• Bella#136Form of Isabel, meaning “my God is an oath”^*
• Ximena#183Basque, meaning “son”^*
• Lola#275Editor’s note Down from #224 in 2015 to #275 in 2025 in the US
• Gia#287Editor’s note Up from #372 in 2015 to #287 in 2025 in the US
• Alessandra#443Italian form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Amaya#180“the end”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Spanish & Italian, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Giovanni’s. Rank is US 2025.