Funny Italian Nicknames For Girlfriends & Meaning

The Italian humor is found in the suffixes, since -ina and -ino shrink any word into something affectionate. So I picked these Italian nicknames fir girlfriends by hand with meanings included.

Funny Italian Nicknames for Girlfriends:

Picciridda

Sicilian for little girl and is pronounced as pee-chee-REED-da. The masculine picciriddu is found in Camilleri’s Montalbano novels.

Ninetta

Ninetta is the short form of Antonietta or Giovannina and has roots in Nina. Rossini used it for the servant girl in the opera semiseria La gazza ladra.

Criatura

“Creature” via the Latin creatura. Napoletans stretch the last vowel into criaturè when they really mean it.

Scugnizza

Scugnizza comes from the verb scugnare and is meaning ”streetwise girl.”

READ MORE: Matching Nicknames For Best Friends

Bedda

The meaning is bella with a Sicilian accent, beautiful. Bedda matri, beautiful mother, is a phrase used in Sicily.

Oca giuliva

“Cheerful goose”. Giulivo is from Old French jolif, and I would save this one for a girlfriend who is able to laugh at herself.

Sfogliatella

It is pronounced as sfoh-lya-TEL-la. Sfogliatella is a shell-shaped pastry and comes from sfoglia, ”thin leaf.” In 1818 chef Pasquale Pintauro began selling the pastries in his shop.

Cicala

”Cicada,” which produces loud buzzing sounds with drum-like membranes.

Burratina

Burrata is an Italian cow’s milk cheese especially popular in Puglia. So burratina is ”little burrata.”

Focaccina

Latin panis focacius (means ”place for baking”), bread baked in flat sheet pans and is similar to pizza dough.

Cassatina

A pocket-sized cassata, a type of cake originating in the Sicily region.

Bombolina

From bombolone, the Tuscan doughnut that is eaten as a snack food and dessert.

Crostatina

Little jam tart. Save

Amarena

Sour cherry and is from the root amaro, ”bitter.” It is used as a decoration on rich chocolate desserts.

Meringhetta

A small meringue that has origins in a region in Switzerland called Meiringen.

Marzapane

Marzapane comes from marzipan, a confection primarily made from sugar and ground almonds. The invention is attributed to Lübeck, Germany.

Croccantino

It is a dessert that combines caramelised sugar and almonds snapped into shards. Croccantino means “small crisp treat.”

Babà

The Neapolitan rum sponge and is credited to Stanislaw Leszczynski who was the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland.

Formaggino

Formaggino is a diminutive of formaggio that is from the Greek phormos (”basket”).

Sorbetto

Sorbetto is from the Arabic sharbat (”to drink”). It is made from fruit purée and sugar.

Ricottina

Ricotta is a soft cheese made from whey and means “recooked.” As such, ricottina is a small serving of ricotta cheese.

Carciofina

Carciofina has roots in Arabic al-kharshuf and is meaning ”artichoke.” Save

Lenticchia

Lenticchia is derived from lenticchia (”lentil”). Italians eat a bowl at midnight on 31 December and make a wish for the year ahead.

Marmotta

Alpine marmots spend 9 months of the year asleep. Dormire come una marmotta translates as “sleep like a log”.

Pinolina

A pine nut.

Albicocca

Albicocca means apricot and comes from the Arabic al-barquq. In Rome, apricots became known in the 1st century AD.

Salamandra

“Salamander.”

Piovra

It means octopus, a sea animal that is famous for its eight long arms and bulging eyes. La Piovra was a show about the Mafia with an average of 10 million viewers.

Frana

”Landslide” or ”earthfall.” I would test this one on a good day.

Combinaguai

”Mischief-maker” or ”she arranges trouble.”

Pasticciona

Pasticciona is the feminine variant of pasticcione which means “mess maker” or a ”clumsy person.” Save

Smemorina

“Forgetful”. Fata Smemorina is a character from the 1950 Disney animated film Cinderella.

Mattacchiona

”A female joker” or ”prankster.” I thinks is a good nickname for a girlfriend who plays the fool on purpose.

Cocciuta

The meaning is hard-headed since coccia is southern slang for skull.

Scatenata

Scatenata means ”unchained” and catena is ”chain.” It is best for a girlfriend who starts the dancing.

Indiavolata

”Possessed” or “turned into a devil.” Southern grandmothers use it on toddlers who refuse to sit.

Impicciona

Impicciona means ”meddler” or ”interferer.”

Spendacciona

The suffix -accione makes spenda (to spend) into a character flaw with a grin attached.

Scintilla

Scintilla comes from the Latin scintilla, ”a spark.”

Golosona

”Someone with a massive sweet tooth.”

Ritardataria

Chronic latecomer and is the present participle of ritardare “to slow down.”

Parlantina

”The gift of the gab.”

Uragano

”Hurricane” and is from Spanish huracán.

Cataclisma

Greek kataklysmos, a flood. Septuagint is the word for the Flood of Genesis 6–9. Save

Grissino

Breadsticks or grissini torinesi are symbols of Piedmontese culinary tradition. Napoleon also had them carted north to Paris.

Disastro

Disastro is made from ”dis” and ”astro” and means ”bad star.”

“Che disagio!” is a slang sentence to say that an individual is embarrassingly stupid.

Puffetta

Puffetta is their variation for Smurfette which is the female character from The Smurfs.

Giraffina

Giraffe, from Arabic zarafa. Its neck holds 7 vertebrae and is the same count as ours.

Nasino

Small nose. Avere naso, to have a nose, describes good instinct. Naso also can have negative connotations.

Gazzella

”Gazelle.” The Carabinieri are the national gendarmerie and gazella rides on the side of every Carabinieri patrol car.

Zanzarina

Zanzarina is an affectionate form of zanzara, “mosquito.” Only female mosquitoes bite people and animals, which makes the nickname more accurate.

Cavalletta

The grasshopper, and word for word a little horse.

Tigrotta

”Tiger cub.”

Pantera

”Panther.” The Polizia named its patrol cars Pantere.

Zucchina

Zucchina means “small squash”. Zucchini was cultivated in the very late 1800s.

Volpetta

Little fox, from Latin vulpes. Vecchia volpe is applied to someone with red hair or a cunning person.

Leonessa

Lioness. Brescia is famous for being the Leonessa d’Italia for resisting 10 days against the Austrians in 1849.

Peperoncina

”Hot chili pepper”. Chili arrived in the Apennine Peninsula after Columbus’s 1492 voyage to the Americas.

Mandarina

It is inspired by orange robes worn by Chinese court officials.

Biondina

Blondie. La biondina in gondoleta, written in Venetian in the 1780s, translates as “The Little Blonde Girl in the Little Gondola.”

Crocchetta

French croquette, from croquer, to crunch.

Bruschetta

Bruschetta is toasted bread topped with fresh tomatoes and olive oil. It has documented roots in Lazio and Umbria, and comes from the Roman dialect verb bruscare.

Cioccolatino

Nahuatl xocolatl is the root. Turin’s gianduiotto was launched during the Turin Carnival celebrations of 1865, and became the first chocolate sold in a wrapper.

Mandorlina

Almond. In 1934 Agrigento’s Almond Blossom Festival was founded.

Ciliegina

The cherry, and is part of la ciliegina sulla torta (means “the little cherry on the cake”).

Bellezza

Latin bellus, pretty.

Melina

A small apple, though in football fare melina is meaning to slow the game’s pace in order to win.

Mozzarellina

Mozzarellina comes from the verb mozzare (“to cut off”). Short forms that I like are Mozza or Mozzi.

Tortellina

Tortellina has roots in the diminutive form of tortello that is meaning ”cake” or “pie.” In 1974, the Dotta Confraternita del Tortellino registered the tortellini filling.

Panna

Cream, the layer that rises on milk.

Spaghettina

The short variation of spaghetti.

Tiramisù

“Cheer me up.” Tiramisù was created at Le Beccherie in Treviso in the early 70s.

Gelatina

Gelatina comes from thr Latin gelare “to freeze, congeal” and is made of animal bones and skin.

Patatina

Little potato, which explains the affection.

Miele

Honey.

Zuccherino

”Sweet” or ”sugary.”. Zucchero has origins in the Arabic sukkar that is from Sanskrit sharkara, gravel.

Fragolina

”Wild strawberry” and is from the Latin fragum.

Nocciolina

Peanut, a legume that ripens underground.

Principessa

”Princess.”

Gattina

Kitten. The warning ”qui gatta ci cova” means that “there is something fishy going on”.

Amore

Latin amor. Popular diminutives include Amorino and Amoruccio.

Stella

Star. Sailors prayed to Stella Maris for a safe journey.

Dolcezza

”Sweetness” and ”dolce far niente” is meaning “the sweetness of doing nothing”.

Piccolina

”Small one” and the shortest flute in the orchestra.

Bambolina

Doll, from bambola, childish.

Regina

”Queen.” In the late 1400s, Italian and Spanish players rewrote the chess rules by making the Queen the most important piece.

Fiorellino

Fiorellino is symbolizing ”little flower.”