The word renaissance means ‘rebirth’.
It usually refers to the age of reawakening in the significant parts of Europe during the 15th Century AD. The Renaissance age marked the start of a new era, a period of free-thinking, new inventions, new developments in arts, science, and technology.
World History refers to the Medieval age as the ‘Dark Age’ owing to fewer developments and the more conservative nature of the society. However, the Renaissance period was like a breath of fresh air that set everything anew.
This period lasted for over three centuries and was the first step towards a modernized world. Often depicted as a revolution, the Renaissance began in Florence, Italy in the late 14th century and continued until the 17th century, thereby spreading across European nations.
This cultural movement affected literature, music, science, technology, exploration, philosophy, and more. The rapid spread of the renaissance was due to the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg.
The Renaissance period often correlates with the Elizabethan Era, which has been named after Queen Elizabeth of England. A significant number of writers and poets of this era are said to have been extremely influential.
Elizabeth and Mary were extremely popular girl names in the 1600s. Other examples of medieval girl names are Joan. These were popular girl names in the 1600s. Read on to find out more such names!
If you are looking for more classic names, you can look at our articles on Artistic Names and Italian Girl Names.
Renaissance Artist And Sculptors
Enlisted below are some of the names of the best painters of that time period.
1. Donatello was an Italian sculpture who was born in Florence in 1386. Often regarded as one of the best sculptures of the renaissance era, he used the modern renaissance art style in his sculptures. The bronze David is his most famous work.
2. Filippo Brunelleschi was an Italian designer, as well as an architect. He is referred to as the first-ever modern engineer and also the father of Rena architecture. This best work is the designing of the iconic dome of the Florence Cathedral.
3. Jean Clouet was a French painter and miniaturist. He was a brilliant artist who was specialized in painting portraits. Of his works, these seven miniature portraits in the Manuscript of the Gallic War is said to be his best work.
4. Juan de Castillo was a Portuguese architect born in 1470. He worked on five World Heritage Sites all across Europe. This is an example of medieval names from the 1500s.
5. Leonardo Da Vinci was an Italian inventor, painter, and a master in many subjects. Considered as the greatest painter and inventor of all time, his work ‘Mona Lisa’ is a prime example. His other paintings, like ‘Last Supper’ or the ‘Vitruvian Man’, are also widely famous.
6. Michelangelo was an Italian sculpture, artist, and poet. His work in art and architecture has a profound influence on Modern Western Art. His best sculptural works are Pieta and David.
7. Raphael was a notable Italian artist and architect whose works include ‘Sistine Madonna’, ‘Transfiguration’. This is an elegant name of the renaissance time period.
8. Sandro Botticelli, an Italian painter, was born in Florence. He was best known for Mythology paintings like ‘The Birth of Venus’, ‘Madonna and the Child’. Medieval boy names like Sandro sounds beautiful.
9. Tintoretto was an Italian artist of the renaissance era. He was known for his signature style of painting with furious brushwork. His artwork is said to possess mannerist styles. Renaissance Italian names like Tintoretto are no longer used in the 21st century.
10. Titian was an Italian painter. His work has been profoundly used in western art. He also opened the School of Italian Renaissance painting. Italian renaissance names like these are now obsolete.
Renaissance Names After Mathematicians
The renaissance era saw a significant discovery in science and maths.
11. Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer. He is called the father of physics and the father of modern science. The Catholic Church opposed his profound work in astronomy. He discovered four moons of Jupiter along with phases of Venus.
12. Gerolamo Cardano was an Italian polymath. He was a highly influential mathematician and is said to have laid the foundation of the Binomial theorem.
13. Guidobaldo del Monte was an Italian astronomer and mathematician. He has worked with Galileo and Barozzi. He also published a paper on hydrostatic balance.
14. Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician. His best works are on those of planetary motion. His work laid the foundation for the discovery of gravity.
15. John Napier was a Scottish physicist and astronomer. He has discovered the algorithms and the Napier Bones. He is also said to have made the use of decimal points in maths.
16. Luca Pacioli was an Italian mathematician who collaborated with Vinci. He is called the Father of Accounting, who introduced the double-entry system of bookkeeping. Medieval male names like this were famous in the 16th century.
17. Niccolo Fortana Tartaglia was an Italian engineer and mathematician. He translated works of Archimedes and Euclid. Tartaglia is a beautiful family name.
18. Nicolaus Copernicus was Polish and had a beautiful family name. He was an astronomer and mathematician. He formulated his postulates, which stated that the sun was at the center of the universe. His work was met with harsh criticism from the Catholic Church. Such names of the 15th century are still commonly used.
19. Pedro Nunes was a Portuguese mathematician. His best works are on those of cartography. He also discovered loxodrome, a measuring device.
20. Robert Recorde was a mathematician and physicist from Wales. He invented the “=” equal to sign and also started the use of the “+” plus sign.
Writers Of The Renaissance Period
Names from the 1600s were extremely popular in the age of Elizabeth. Here are some names of writers from those times.
21. Baldassare Castiglione was an Italian author and diplomat. His most famous work is ‘The Book of a Courtier’. Medieval Names for boys like this are no longer used.
22. Christopher Marlowe was a famous English poet and playwright. He is said to have inspired Shakespeare, and his humanistic writings were well suited in the Elizabethan Era (Era of Elizabeth Tudor).
23. Fernando de Rojas was a Spanish author, lawyer, and dramatist. This most famous work is ‘La Celestina’, which was written when he was a student. Medical Names for boys like Fernando are extensively used nowadays.
24. Francois Rabelais was a French writer and physician. His notable works include ‘Gargantua and Pantagruel’. 16th-century names like these are timeless.
25. Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet and is regarded as the father of English poetry. His best-known work is ‘The Canterbury Tales’. Old English names like Geoffrey are now a thing of the past.
26. John Donne was an English poet, soldier, and scholar. He was a metaphysical poet whose works included love poems, sonnets, and others. His poems also gave rise to several medieval names for females. Middle ages Names like John are timeless.
27. Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish writer and is considered the greatest Spanish writer. His notable work is ‘Don Quixote’ which is still popular now and is regarded as the first modern novel. Miguel, one of the typical 1600s names, is very popular even now.
28. Petrarch was an Italian scholar and poet. He was also one of the earliest humanists. His most famous works are ‘Triumphs’ and ‘Il Canzoniere’.
29. Pierre de Ronsard was a famous French poet and was called the Prince of poets of his time. His notable works include ‘Les Odes’, ‘Les Amours’.
30. William Shakespeare is called the ‘Bard of Avon’ and the national poet of England. Regarded as the greatest dramatist the world has ever seen, his famous works are ‘Hamlet’, ‘Othello’, ‘King Lear’, and ‘Macbeth’.
He has also written many sonnets. Shakespeare is credited with having invented a large number of medieval names and meanings for girls and boys. Shakespeare or his works often inspire medieval boys’ names.
Philosophers Of Renaissance Age
31. Cornelis Drebbel was a Dutch inventor and an engineer. In 1620 he built the world’s first navigable submarine with advanced control systems.
32. Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch Philosopher of the renaissance era. Known as the ‘Prince of Humanists’, his works like ‘On a Free Will’, ‘In Praise of a Folly’, and others were said to raise questions that were of importance in the Protestant Reformation.
33. Francis Bacon was an English philosopher. His works on scientific methods are said to in usage even today. Medieval English names like Francis are still used today.
34. Marsilio Ficino was an Italian scholar and astronomer. He translated Plato’s works and revived Neoplatonism.
35. Michel de Montaigne was a French philosopher. His notable works include ‘Public Opinion’ and a vast collection of highly influential essays. Male medieval names like Michel is quite popular in recent times.
36. Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian writer, diplomat, and philosopher. Known as the father of political science and political philosophy, his best works are on classical realism. Names from medieval times were classy.
37. Nicholas of Cusa was a German philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician. His principal works were on Theology, Humanism, and Mysticism. This was one of the most famous names of the 1700s.
38. Robert Boyle was an Irish chemist and inventor. He was the first modern chemist and is known as the father of modern . His best work is ‘Boyle’s Law’ which states that pressure and volume are inversely proportional if the temperature remains constant.
39. Thomas More was an English philosopher, author, and humanist. His best work is titled ‘Utopia’ which was written in 1516, describes the political system of an imaginary island. Many English names like Thomas are popular nowadays.
40. Tommaso Campanella was an Italian poet, astrologer, and theologian. His work, ‘The City of the Sun’, describes an egalitarian theocratic society adequately.
Explorers Of The Renaissance Era
The age of discovery saw Europeans find new lands and routes.
41. Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer and merchant. The word ‘America’ is taken from his name. He understood the country Brazil was of a different continent and hence termed it ‘New World’. Vespucci is a beautiful family name.
42. Bartholomew Dias was a Portuguese explorer. The Age of Discovery started from his journey, and he was the first European to sail to the southernmost part of Africa and thus set the route of trade to Asia.
43. Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who had completed four voyages over the Atlantic. These voyages opened the route to colonization and brought Europe in contact with Asia, Central America, and South America.
44. Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who traveled to the East Indies and thus paved the way for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. He wanted to travel to Indian via the Pacific Ocean. He, however, couldn’t reach India and was killed in a battle in the Philippines.
45. Hernan Cortes was a Spanish traveler and conquistador who is said to have begun Spanish colonization in America. His expedition led to the fall of the great Aztec civilization. Hernan was a common name in the 1600s and 1700s.
46. Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish conquistador who led the first official European expedition to Florida. He also was the first Puerto Rican governor.
47. Marco Polo was an Italian merchant, writer, and explorer who traveled along the Silk route to Asia. This book ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’ hives a vivid description of China, India, Japan, and Persia.
48. Sir Francis Drake was an English explorer and is said to be the first person to circumnavigate the world in one expedition. It was his expedition that led to the famous English – Spanish rivalry of the Western conquests.
49. Vasco Da Gama was a celebrated Portuguese explorer and the first European ever to reach India by sea in 1498.
His journey was said to be a landmark as it united the Atlantic and Indian ocean. After a century, the Dutch, English, and the French used the same route to reach India. He was the seventh Viceroy of Portuguese India.
50. Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a famous Spanish explorer and conquistador who crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first European ever to reach the Pacific from the New World.
has lots of great baby names articles to inspire you. If you liked our suggestions for Renaissance names then why not take a look at Italian boy names, or for something different take a look at Unisex French names.
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