Renzo is the Italian short form of Lorenzo, which goes back to the Latin Laurentius, "man from Laurentum", a town whose name is linked to the laurel tree, so Renzo is usually read as "laurel". Renzo is the hero of Manzoni's classic novel The Betrothed, and the architect Renzo Piano made the name familiar worldwide. In the United States Renzo stood at number 1890 in 2000 and has edged up to number 1313 in 2025, its highest rank so far.