Publisher's Synopsis
How conscious is the choice to name one's children Ginevra or Leonardo in Italy in the 2000s? How effective is the name "Chichibio" on a restaurant sign? And again, how far-reaching is the cultural-historical legacy of a provincial town that resurrects its medieval place name? To a scholar's watchful eye, certain present-day names seem to evoke a past that simply never existed; yet, our present appears immersed in that enigmatic and polychromatic universe called the "Middle Ages." Amidst reconstructions and inconsistencies, this volume offers a guide to navigate the fascinating world of Italian onomastics, in search of the most intimate essence of contemporary names.
