At first glance, this seems both the perfect name for a son born on New Year’s Day and a bit too much. Okay, maybe much too much.
But it turns out that he has a surprising amount of history. Here’s our Name of the Day for 1/1/09: Primo.
In Latin, primus means first. Our words primal, primary and prime all trace back to the root.
Primus has been used as a given name since the first century or so. It could’ve been a name bestowed on a firstborn son; it might also be a nickname of sorts – the equivalent of calling someone “Junior” today.
What’s known is that a trio of early saints were called Primus:
- In the 1st century, Saint Primus was martyred at Antioch, along with Saints Cyril and yes, Secundarius.
- Under Diocletion, brothers Primus and Felician were said to have been martyred. They’re not widely known today, but the pair is depicted on the walls of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice;
- In 362, Saint Primus met his death in northwest Africa. He and Saint Donatus were deacons defending a church during a theological debate when things turned violent.
The name remained in use, especially in Italy and again, sometimes as a nickname.
Primo Riccitelli was an early 20th century composer. His baptismal certificate gives his name as Pancrazio, but all of his works are credited to Primo. Two of his operatic pieces – I Compagnacci and Madonna Oretta – are still performed.
Primo Conti was an Italian artist, part of the Futurist movement, in the early 20th century.
But the best known Primo is Primo Levi, the Jewish-Italian Holocaust survivor. His memoir of his time in Auschwitz, If This is a Man, is widely considered a masterwork. After Levi’s death, his writings were adapted for the stage and eventually a 2005 film titled Primo.
On a lighter note, in the 1996 movie Big Night, brothers Primo and Secondo struggle to operate their restaurant. Big Night was a huge indie hit, attracting critical acclaim at film festivals and snagging an Independent Spirit award for the screenplay.
Considering his artistic and literary backstory and long history of use, Primo starts to sound a little more user friendly. Primo has never charted in the Top 1000 most popular names in the US, but plenty of men with the name appear in the census records. And of course, boys’ names ending in -o have become quite fashionable.
But not every -o ending name is equally accessible. Marco and Matteo are almost mainstream. Bruno, Giacomo and Cosmo are more extreme, but not unthinkable. Primo is probably somewhere between the second group and the really wild choices – like Romeo and Orlando.
Then again, last year Romeo ranked #505 and Orlando #368. So parents looking for an unusual Italian heritage choice for a firstborn might consider Primo.
Just don’t call your second born Secondo. That seems cruel.