This Friday night, I went to AT&T Park in San Francisco for free opera. Every summer they do a live simulcast of an opera being performed at the SF Opera House and show it at the park on the big screen (with English subtitles!) for everyone to see. They let people sit on the field and did I mention it was free? It’s not every day that you can watch Tosca and eat nachos at the same time.

 

Needless to say, the Baby Names of the Week are opera-themed!  

 

Here are my selections:

 

 

GIRLS’ BABY NAME OF THE WEEK

 

CARMEN — title character in Bizet’s Carmen. Appropriately, it is a Latin name that means “song.”

 

 

 

BOYS’ BABY NAME OF THE WEEK

 

MARCELLO —a character in Puccini’s La Bohème. It is an Italian name meaning “warlike.”

 

 

I chose the name Carmen because it’s a quintessential opera name with such a perfect meaning for our theme! Also, I think it’s cute. Marcello is a strong baby name and a daring alternative to its more common related names, Mark and Marcus.

 

 

CELEBRITY PICKS

 

Some of the famous opera singers have some great names, too:

 

 

FEMALE NAMES

 

ANNE-SOFIE von Otter

CECILIA Bartoli

GWYNETH Jones

JUNE Anderson

KARITA Mattila

KATIA Ricciarelli

LUCIA Popp

MAGDALENA Kozena

MARILYN Horne

MIRELLA Freni

MONTSERRAT Caballé

RENATA Scotto

TATIANA Troyanos

 

 

MALE NAMES

 

ANDREAS Scholl

CARLO Bergonzi

ENRICO Caruso

FRITZ Wunderlich

GUISEPPE di Stefano

JOSE Carrera

LUCIANO Pavarotti

PLACIDO Domingo

SAMUEL Raney

 

 

If you’re an opera buff, there’s a world of baby name inspiration for you out there. I found so many unusual and interesting names while researching these opera characters that I’m putting together a list for you and will post it later this week. Stay tuned!

 

♥  Amanda

 

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

 

 

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For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES