Michael naming his son Anthony

Back in the day - 1950s - would this have been considered an act of disrespect toward his (still living) father - to name his son Anthony, and not name him Vito after his grandfather? I get that Michael was attempting to de-Italianize his family so as to make moves toward legitimacy, and as such married a non-Italian wife and gave his children more neutral names - but would it not have been taken as a mark of disrespect for his father? Even if not by Vito himself, by outside Italian observers? He snubs his father of a namesake?

Wasn't Michael's grandfather's name Antonio Andolini? If so, then he did one better and named him in honor of Vito's father. That would be showing much respect.

Yes AG on Michael's Grandfather, and his son was named Anthony Vito Corleone. He had his Grandfather and Father covered so he did name his son in his honor. Not sure how that is disrespect....lol

True, Michael probably chose the name Anthony in honor of HIS grandfather (i.e. Antonio Andolini), and of course the middle name was in honor of his father Vito.

However, could it be considered disrespectful to use the Americanized "Anthony" instead of Antonio? Clearly that point was to drill home the fact Michael was trying to distance himself from his roots.

yes i think it was a tribute. I dont think mike was distancing himself from his roots but he was a italian american. Also anthony wasnt even a 100 percent italian so it makes sense his name is anthony and not Antonio

I believe I heard in the commentaries of the trilogy for Part I if I am not mistaken that they couldn't really get the young boy's attention so it was decided that he would be called "Anthony" to make him respond which was the boy's actual name.

interesting i didnt know that

I didn't know that either, interesting. I don't know about Sicilians but for my own Italian American family, it is customary to name your son after his grandfather and daughter after her grandmother (even after uncles and aunts too). I have a few cousins with the same name because of this. And one entire family has so many Joe's and Jo's for Josephine, you call out Joe/Jo and everybody responds lol. Godfather fans can correct me if I'm wrong but he named him Antonio to follow tradition. Back when Antonio (Anthony) was growing up, it was very customary to take the Americanized version of your name to fit in. You also have a confirmation name in addition to your first and middle name. You take the name of a saint.

"The first time I was introduced to all of them at once, it was crazy. Paulie and his brothers had lots of sons and nephews. And almost all of them were named Peter or Paul. It was unbelievable. There must have been two dozen Peters and Pauls at the wedding. Plus, they were all married to girls named Marie. And they named all their daughters Marie. By the time I finished meeting everybody, I thought I was drunk."

You are right ofcourse that this is a Sicilian tradition, particulary in the Mafia. I think it only applies to the first-born son who is named in honor of his grandfather. Therefore, Sonny should have been named after his grandfather Antonio and Anthony after his grandfather Vito. Middle names don't count.

I think both Puzo and Coppola as second generation Italian-Americans who originated from Naples weren't aware of this.

Thanks Sonny. Both you and Turnbull made excellent posts.

Mark, are you trying to amuse us, you know, like a clown?

Also, Kay having no competition really bothered me. It just didn't seem authentic imo. I always wished that FFC would have shown young Italian ladies sitting around the table with their mothers eyeing Michael as a potential husband and then him having to go to their table to meet them. After all, the Italian (Sicilian) women would treat her like an outsider and wouldn't be cordial to her or worry about her feelings imo.

Edit: FFC

Thanks, Alfanosgirl.

Anthony is not an uncommon name in America. But, until fairly recently, most Anthonys were Italian-Americans.

My middle name is Anthony.

Are you Italian-American?

E vero!

Anthony is actually pretty popular in the South outside of Italians.