Angelo

Angelo is the Italian way of saying messenger—from the Greek angelos, the same root that gives us angel—and it has circled Italian families and parishes for a thousand years. Michelangelo took it into the Sistine Chapel; generations of boxers, tailors, and grandfathers have kept it close to the chest. In the United States the name charted steadily through the twentieth century and now holds near 286, its warmth undimmed. Three round syllables, an easy AN-jel-oh, with a finish that lifts. Old country without being old-fashioned, affectionate without being soft, Angelo still carries its wings without dragging them.