Fortunato
Masculine · “Fortunate”
Fortunato is the Italian word for fortunate, used whole as a name. Italian does this more readily than English does — takes an adjective off the shelf and gives it to a child — and the results are names that mean exactly and only what they say.
How old is the name Fortunato?
Fortunato first appears in US birth records in 1910 — 115 years ago. The typical Fortunato alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 400 people named Fortunato are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Fortunato most popular?
Fortunato peaked in 1911, reaching #1038 nationally. See the whole 1911 chart.
Where it comes from
From Fortunatus to Fortunato
The story of Fortunato
Fortuna was not a goddess of good luck. She turned a wheel, and the point of the wheel was that it kept turning — the man at the top would be at the bottom, and being her favorite was a temporary condition that only a fool relied on. Medieval Europe kept the image for a thousand years: the wheel of fortune in manuscripts, with four figures rising, reigning, falling and crushed. A name meaning fortunate, in that framework, is a small act of defiance rather than a boast. The name's darkest appearance in English is Poe's: the man called Fortunato is the one who is lured into a cellar looking for a cask of wine and walled up alive, and the name is the joke the story turns on.
Meaning
Fortunate, lucky
From the Latin fortunatus, blessed by fortune. The Romans meant it literally: favored by the goddess, who was understood to be arbitrary. The name is a hope rather than a description, and it has been given in Italy and Spain for two thousand years.
How the name formed
- Fortunatus
- Fortunato
Related forms: Fortunato · Fortunato · Fortunato · Fortuné
Pronouncing Fortunato
for-too-NAH-toh
Four syllables with the stress on the third. Every vowel is pure in Italian; English speakers tend to reduce the second.
Nicknames for Fortunato
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1910
- Most boys named
- 192224 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1038reached in 1911
- Change vs 2016
- 0.0%5 in 2024, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Fortunato in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Fortunato in Italian — same name
- Fortunato in Spanish — same name
- Fortunato in Portuguese — same name
- Fortuné in French — same name
Fortunatos among us
people named Fortunato are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Fortunato sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is transparent, positive and needs no translation in half of Europe.
- It shortens cleanly in two different languages.
- It is unmistakably Italian, which for many families is precisely the point.
- Four syllables is long for American use and the short form will do the work.
- The most famous literary bearer comes to a memorably bad end.
- It is a word as well as a name in two languages, which means it is never neutral.
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What they receive
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Fortunato
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Fortunatos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Fortunato are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Fortunato in 2025?
- Fortunato is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Fortunato with classmates?
- Fortunato will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More F names
The most-given names starting with F, all years combined.
Frank#513 · Fred#1932 · Francis#420 · Frederick#435 · Floyd#2230 · Francisco#322 · Franklin#359 · Fernando#387
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Fortunato? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Fortunato and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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