When Valentine's Day is the Name Day

Valentine's Day is universally known as the day to celebrate your loved one, but it is also the day to celebrate everyone who is named Valentina or Valentino.
When it happens your lover's name is one of the two above well... congratulations and double celebration)))

This tradition was originated during the Middle Ages due to religious customs: Catholic Church used to give name day more importance than birthday. In Italy, still up to the 50s/60s, parents could not choose a name which was not listed in the liturgical calendar, so the unaware baby was burden with the name of the saint celebrated on that day.

Name day, however, is still deeply felt and no longer tied to religious scopes, as well as the freedom to choose any name for the offspring))).

People like to celebrate with some sweets or even a baked cake.

These points given, let's go back to the name of the day:

I have found it is perceived as an "exotic" name and this made me think a bit, because it is something I have never felt. It has latin roots so it doesn't sound that unusual to me: I had some fun discovering it is ranked among this label.

As shown in the previous illustration, I agree to say Valentina (and Valentino more than ever) have not great diffusion and occur in waves during the years too. 

These names were popular during the 70's and 80's but now are no longer placed in any top list. 

According to the Nation's Registry Office the approximately 0.0607% of the Italian population is called Valentino whilst Valentina stands around the 0.0991%. Both names are mostly used in the northern and central regions of the country.