The history of these times and the people who lived them, their professions and personalities, their appearance and their faiths have become imbedded in our names. Italian names have actually proven to be more stable in America than they ever were in Italy. Unlike the Poles, the Germans or the French, very few of our names got changed coming through Ellis Island. No Italian names are held by very many people, however. In an American roll call there would be no Italian equivalent of Smith, Johnson or even Rodriguez to which hundreds of thousands might respond.
Italian names are more scattered, more evenly divided.
Not one of them ranks in the top five hundred American names. Italian names are easy to recognize. This is because they really do have a lot in common. We appear to love diminutives and pet names. Many Italian names are descriptive.