| Giovanni | Enzo | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | God is gracious | Debated; home-ruler or '-enzo' short form |
| Origin | Italian | italian |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | joh-VAH-nee | EN-tsoh |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1907 | 1915 |
| Peak year | 2010 (3,434) | 2024 (4,560) |
| In 2025 | 2,939 | 4,556 |
| Trend | Steady | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Giovanni | Enzo |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 17,879 | 20,965 |
| 2010s | 30,418 | 10,554 |
| 2000s | 24,227 | 2,572 |
| 1990s | 10,931 | 358 |
| 1980s | 3,359 | 115 |
| 1970s | 1,418 | 143 |
| 1960s | 579 | 82 |
| 1950s | 153 | 15 |
| 1940s | 20 | 0 |
| 1930s | 56 | 35 |
| 1920s | 135 | 102 |
| 1910s | 175 | 11 |
| 1900s | 18 | 0 |
Giovanni is the Italian form of John, “God is gracious.”
Origin debated. Commonly explained as an Italian form of Germanic Heinz/Heinrich (Henry), from 'heim' ('home') and 'ric' ('ruler'), i.e. 'home ruler'. It is also widely used as a short form of Italian names ending in '-enzo' such as Lorenzo and Vincenzo. A derivation from Germanic Anzo has also been proposed.
Enzo is more popular than Giovanni today: about 4,556 US babies were given the name Enzo in 2025, compared with 2,939 named Giovanni.
Giovanni means God is gracious (Italian origin), while Enzo means Debated; home-ruler or '-enzo' short form (italian origin).
In US records, Giovanni first appears in 1907 and Enzo in 1915, so Giovanni has the longer recorded history.