Italian Steps - Greetings and introductions - Cultural notes

Fact File

• Many Italian social customs remain very traditional and formal. On first meeting someone, it is courteous to address him or her with a personal title such as Signor/Signora/Signorina. Titles are very important in greetings and introductions and some professions are regarded with great respect - Dottore, doctor, Ingegnere, engineer, and even Avvocato, lawyer, are often used as respectful terms of address.



• Use Ciao to greet friends of the same age as you or younger. Greet older people with Buongiorno, good day (Buonasera after around 4pm). If you are unsure of what to say, Salve, 'hi', is a safe option for greeting anyone. On first introductions Italians generally only ever shake hands, never kiss, and good eye contact is considered very important.



• In Italy, you are expected to salutare, greet, every person in the room by shaking hands or kissing, depending on the relationship, and repeat the process again when you leave. On entering a bar or shop, it is customary to greet people with a Buongiorno (Buonasera after about 4pm) and again on leaving.



• Kissing is generally restricted to very close friends or family. The number of kisses exchanged is optional - one kiss is usually seen as quite intimate, two kisses is the norm, but you can get away with three if you feel like it. There are no fixed rules as to which cheek to kiss first. Don't be surprised to see two men greeting each other with a kiss or hug. In 1564, the government of Naples banned the practice of kissing. If you were caught kissing in public, it was an offence punishable by death!



• Italians, like many other nationalities, like to keep names in the family. Traditionally the first son is named after the 'head' of the family, the paternal grandfather, while the first daughter is named after the paternal grandmother. Any subsequent siblings are given names from the maternal side of the family.



• Italian first names generally end in a vowel, and often have a masculine -o and a feminine -a ending, e.g. Mario and Maria, Carlo and Carla. But don't get caught out - some common male names like Andrea, Nicola, and Luca don't follow that rule. If a child is born on a Saint's day, it usually adopts the Saint's name. Until recently, Italians could only be baptised with the name either of a saint or a biblical figure. Today, however, there are many more non-Christian names in use, e.g. Aldo and Fiorella.



• Isabella, Bianca, Giovanni and Mario are among the most popular names in Italy today. Many first names are abbreviated, for example, Beppe is short for Giuseppe, and Filippo can be shortened to Pippo. Italy has a tradition of foreign or politically inspired names - names like Napoleone, Bruto, Spartaco and even Anarchico are not unknown!



• Italian surnames were introduced around the year 1000, to account for its growing population. Some surnames refer to the family place of origin, e.g. di Genova means 'from Genova'. Other surnames derive from professions like Forni, baker, and personal characteristics such as Rosso or Rossi, for someone with red hair. There are even names referring to similarities to animals such as Agnello, lamb, for someone considered gentle. Some surnames are found only in specific regions or towns of Italy. The surname Zola, for example, is predominantly found in the Piedmont and Lombardy regions of the north.