Pilati History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Italy

From the historical and enchanting Italian region of Piedmont emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Pilati family. During the Middle Ages, as populations grew and travel between regions became more frequent, the people of Tuscany found it necessary to adopt a second name to identify themselves and their families. The process of adopting fixed hereditary surnames was not complete until the modern era, but the use of hereditary family names in Italy began in the 10th and 11th centuries. Italian hereditary surnames were developed according to fairly general principles and they were characterized by a profusion of derivatives coined from given names. Although the most common type of family name found in Piedmont is the patronymic surname, which is derived from the father's given name, the nickname type of surname is also frequently found. Nickname surnames were derived from an eke-name, or added name. They usually reflected the physical characteristics or attributes of the first person that used the name. The surname Pilati is a name for an hirsute individual whose hair or beard was long and thick. The Italian surname Pelosi is derived from the word peloso, which means hirsute.

Early Origins of the Pilati family

The surname Pilati was first found in Savigliano, a town south of the prosperous city of Turin. Tancredi Pillosi, a descendant of an ancient family of Lords, is recorded as living in Savigliano in 1179.

Early History of the Pilati family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pilati research. The years 1738 and 1795 are included under the topic Early Pilati History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pilati Spelling Variations

Enormous variation in spelling and form characterizes those Italian names that originated in the medieval era. This is caused by two main factors: regional tradition, and inaccuracies in the recording process. Before the last few hundred years, scribes spelled names according to their sounds. Spelling variations were the unsurprising result. The variations of Pilati include Pelosi, Pelusi, Peloso, Pelos, Peluso, Piluso, Pelosini, Pelosin, Pillosi, Pilloso, Piloso, Pelati, Pellati, Pilati and many more.

Early Notables of the Pilati family

Prominent among members of the family was

Publio Pilati, who moved from Lombardy to Sicily for career reasons. Many of his descendants became prominent judges and lawyers in Sicily. In the 18th century this family inherited the title of Marqu...
Vincenzo Pilati was a Baron in 1738
Giovan-Battista Pilati was created Count in 1795 by Francesco II

Pilati migration to the United States +

Pilatis were some of the first of the immigrants to arrive in North America:

Pilati Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Michael Pilati, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1764 1
Thomas Pilati, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1764 1

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)