Otello

Otello is an Italian form of Othello, a name famously used by William Shakespeare in his tragedy Othello (1603). The Shakespearean name itself is perhaps a diminutive of Otho, a Roman cognomen.

Etymology and Origin

The ultimate root, Otho, is of unknown meaning. It was borne by a short-lived 1st-century Roman emperor (born Marcus Salvius Otho). The name Othello, likely a diminutive of Otho, was given by Shakespeare to the tragic Moor of Venice. The Italian adaptation Otello closely follows the original English name.

Operatic Significance

The name Otello is indelibly linked to Giuseppe Verdi's 1887 opera Otello, based on Shakespeare's play with an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito. Verdi's opera, his penultimate, premiered at La Scala in Milan on 5 February 1887 after years of coaxing from publisher Giulio Ricordi and Boito. The work revived Verdi from retirement and cemented the name's association with jealousy and tragedy.

• Meaning: Unknown (ultimate root; Italian form of Othello)
• Origin: Italian (via Shakespeare's English and Roman Latin)
• Type: First name
• Usage: Italian