Yo Kass answered
Unfortunately, there is no accurate English translation for the name Pinocchio - which was given to the wooden puppet portrayed in the Disney movie of the same title. In fact, the origin and the meaning of the name are subject to considerable debate and speculation.
Why Geppetto Named Him Pinocchio
The original Italian book Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino, was written by Carlo Collodi in 1881. In it, Geppetto, (the wood-carver character who makes Pinocchio), explains that he names his puppet son after a particular family who have the sort of lifestyle that he hopes Pinocchio will also enjoy one day.
The exact passage is:
"Che nome gli metterò? – disse tra sé e sé. – Lo voglio chiamar Pinocchio. Questo nome gli porterà fortuna. Ho conosciuto una famiglia intera di Pinocchi: Pinocchio il padre, Pinocchia la madre e Pinocchi i ragazzi, e tutti se la passavano bene."
This translates to something like:
What name will I give him?- He said to himself,- I want to call him Pinocchio, this name will bring him luck. I once knew an entire family of Pinocchi: Father Pinocchio, mother Pinocchio, and Pinocchi children, and all of them had it good.
The book offers no further explanation.
Made of Pine
One popular suggestion is that Pinocchio's name derives from the Italian wood for pine, which is pino. This seems like a perfectly feasible explanation for the name of a puppet made primarily of wood. Interestingly, the rest of his name, occhio, is the Italian word for 'eye' which could be of some metaphoric significance to Pinocchio's character.
Some people argue that the name Pinocchio doesn't refer to the eye at all, but is simply a cute nickname derived from the word 'pine', in the same way the name Geppetto is a nickname of the proper name Giuseppe which, in something of a circle of nicknames, can be further modified to Giuseppino which is yet another theory for the origin of Pinocchio's name!
Why Geppetto Named Him Pinocchio
The original Italian book Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino, was written by Carlo Collodi in 1881. In it, Geppetto, (the wood-carver character who makes Pinocchio), explains that he names his puppet son after a particular family who have the sort of lifestyle that he hopes Pinocchio will also enjoy one day.
The exact passage is:
"Che nome gli metterò? – disse tra sé e sé. – Lo voglio chiamar Pinocchio. Questo nome gli porterà fortuna. Ho conosciuto una famiglia intera di Pinocchi: Pinocchio il padre, Pinocchia la madre e Pinocchi i ragazzi, e tutti se la passavano bene."
This translates to something like:
What name will I give him?- He said to himself,- I want to call him Pinocchio, this name will bring him luck. I once knew an entire family of Pinocchi: Father Pinocchio, mother Pinocchio, and Pinocchi children, and all of them had it good.
The book offers no further explanation.
Made of Pine
One popular suggestion is that Pinocchio's name derives from the Italian wood for pine, which is pino. This seems like a perfectly feasible explanation for the name of a puppet made primarily of wood. Interestingly, the rest of his name, occhio, is the Italian word for 'eye' which could be of some metaphoric significance to Pinocchio's character.
Some people argue that the name Pinocchio doesn't refer to the eye at all, but is simply a cute nickname derived from the word 'pine', in the same way the name Geppetto is a nickname of the proper name Giuseppe which, in something of a circle of nicknames, can be further modified to Giuseppino which is yet another theory for the origin of Pinocchio's name!
