Italian2 syllablesSaint's name
Meaning: life.
Vito
Vito is Latin for life pared down to two syllables, and it belongs to a boy martyr who ended up lending his name to a dance.
| Origin | Italian, from the Latin name Vitus |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Life, from Latin vita. Italian Jewish families also used Vito and Vita to render Hebrew Chaim, which means the same thing |
| Pronunciation | VEE-toh |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100 and uncommon there; still a strong everyday name in southern Italy, particularly Apulia and Sicily |
| Variants | Vitus (Latin), Veit (German), Vid (Slovene, Croatian); Vitale and Vidal are relatives, from vitalis |
| Nicknames | Vituccio, Vitino |
| Not the same as | Vittorio, which descends from Victor and has nothing to do with vita |
History & meaning
Vitus was a real Roman name, and the standard derivation ties it to vita, life. The saint who carried it into general use was Sicilian: a boy martyred under Diocletian around the year 303, traditionally alongside his tutor Modestus and his nurse Crescentia. His cult was enormous. He became one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, the group of saints invoked against specific afflictions, and his relics travelled north until Prague built its cathedral around them. Southern Italy simply kept the name, and San Vito remains a fixture of Apulian and Sicilian life in a way that is hard to overstate.
The dance is the odd part, and it is real. In late medieval Germany and Latvia people danced before images of the saint on his feast day, 15 June, and the custom eventually attached his name to the involuntary jerking movements that doctors now call Sydenham's chorea. Saint Vitus's Dance is still the folk term. He is patron of dancers and actors as a result, and of people with epilepsy and chorea. In America the first association is different again: Vito Corleone, who is fictional, has done more to shape how the name sounds to English speakers than any real bearer. Related names sit on the Italian names page.
Why parents choose it
Four letters, two beats, an -o ending, and a meaning as good as any in the book. Vito is brisk where most Italian names are ornate, and it works equally well as a first name or a middle name honouring a grandfather.
Middle names for Vito
The short, clipped first name can take something operatic after it: Vito Alessandro, Vito Raffaele, Vito Antonio, Vito Nicholas. The middle names guide covers the balance.
Famous Vitos
Vito Acconci made his name as a performance artist in the 1970s and spent his later career designing public spaces. Vito Marcantonio represented East Harlem in Congress for seven terms and was, for a while, the most left-wing member of the House.
Consider instead
Enzo is the same length and considerably more fashionable. Rocco is another southern Italian saint's name with a hard middle. Bruno keeps the two beats and trades Italy for a Germanic root.