Giovani is a variant spelling of Giovanni — the Italian form of John, from the Hebrew Yohanan meaning "God is gracious." Ranked #1250 with a peak in 2011 and around 7,500 total SSA uses, it's the single-N spelling that appears in SSA data alongside the standard double-N Giovanni.
Giovanni and Its Italian Heritage
Giovanni is among Italy's most historic given names — borne by Giovanni Boccaccio (author of the Decameron), Giovanni da Verrazzano (the explorer who first mapped the northeastern American coast), and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (the great Venetian painter). The name's reach in Italian culture is comparable to John in English: it underpins hundreds of Italian surnames (De Giovanni, D'Angelo's equivalent) and appears in hundreds of compound names. Italian names with this foundational quality carry the full weight of Italian cultural history in four syllables.
The Single-N Spelling
Giovani with one N is most common in Spanish-speaking Latin American contexts — particularly in Mexico and Central America — where Italian names have been absorbed and phonetically adapted. The single N reflects a more Spanish orthographic convention. In American SSA data, Giovani and Giovanni appear as separate entries, though they're pronounced identically (joh-VAH-nee). The single-N spelling carries a more specifically Latino-Italian cultural signal than the Italian-standard double-N.
The 2011 Peak and What It Represents
Giovani's 2011 peak reflects the height of Italian-influenced naming in Latino communities, where Giovanni/Giovani were used as distinctly European-inflected names within Spanish-speaking naming traditions. Comparing the two spellings shows Giovanni with considerably more cumulative usage. For families who want the Italian saint's name in its standard form, Giovanni is the cleaner choice; Giovani carries the same name with a Latino cultural marker embedded in the spelling.