Giovanni

Some names you choose. Giovanni, I suspect, you fall for. It has that quality. Four syllables that seem to arrive with a plate of something delicious and a strong opinion about how you're holding your fork.

Despite all that flourish, the root is Hebrew, and the meaning is God is gracious. It's a sentiment that has been passed from language to language for centuries, and in Giovanni it picked up a great deal of style along the way. Same generous heart, better tailoring.

Gio, Gianni or Vanni

A name this long needs somewhere to go on a busy morning, and happily it has three options. Gio is snappy and modern, the one that'll end up on his football shirt. Gianni is warm and traditional, the one his grandmother will use. And Vanni is the quirky choice, the nickname nobody else's child will have. Full name for the register and the wedding, and a small library of alternatives for everything in between.

In the popularity stakes, Giovanni has one headline result and a lot of quiet ones. It's number 15 in Argentina, which is a proper top-twenty showing. It's 120 in the United States, and it charts in France, New Zealand, Catalonia, Mexico City, Brazil and Canada, mostly in the 300s and 400s. So it's a name that has crossed a great many borders without ever becoming ordinary, which is a difficult trick and rather a good one.

Names with a bit of history

The namesakes suit it perfectly. Giovanni Boccaccio, the Italian author and poet, gives the name serious literary weight. And Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the Italian Renaissance composer, means it has been sung in some very grand rooms indeed. Writer and composer: a name that has spent a lot of time around art, and looks entirely at ease there.

On a sibling shortlist it has obvious friends. Giovanni sits gorgeously beside Matteo and Antonio, and it makes a lovely pair with Sofia or Isabella. These are names that share a certain golden, unhurried warmth. Say the whole set aloud and you'll want to open a window and let some sunshine in.

Is there a downside? Only the practical sort. It's a lot of letters for a small hand to manage, and some people will need to hear it twice. Neither is a real problem. A child grows into a long name faster than you'd think, and the nicknames are there for the meantime.

Which leaves only the usual, impossible question. Gracious, stylish, well-travelled, and shortenable in three directions: on paper, Giovanni has done everything right. But names don't get chosen on paper. They get chosen at midnight, half-asleep, with the list on your phone and a small doubt in your chest. Gio? Gianni? Something else entirely? Have a biscuit. It won't help, but it's nice.