Show ContentsDesanto History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

From the historical and enchanting region of Spain emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Desanto family. Originally, the Spanish people were known only by a single name. The process by which hereditary surnames were adopted in Spain is extremely interesting. Surnames evolved during the Middle Ages when people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Often they adopted names that were derived from nicknames. 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 name Desanto is a nickname type of surname for a person who was born on All Saint's Day. In the medieval chronicles, the name was originally recorded in the Latin form Sanctorum.

Early Origins of the Desanto family

The surname Desanto was first found in Castile, predominant among the Christian kingdoms of medieval Spain.

Early History of the Desanto family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Desanto research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1155 and 1711 are included under the topic Early Desanto History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Desanto Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: disanto, Santos, Santo, Santero, Dossantos, Di Santo and many more.

Early Notables of the Desanto family

Another 50 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Desanto Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Desanto migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Desanto Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Francisco DeSanto, who arrived in New Spain in 1835 [1]
  • Juana DeSanto, who landed in America in 1835 [1]
  • Domenico DeSanto, aged 25, who landed in America, in 1894
Desanto Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Felice DeSanto, aged 32, who immigrated to America, in 1901
  • Benci Maria DeSanto, aged 26, who immigrated to the United States, in 1902
  • Fortunato Desanto, aged 24, who landed in America from S Biase, Italy, in 1909
  • Antonio DeSanto, aged 27, who settled in America, in 1921

Contemporary Notables of the name Desanto (post 1700) +

  • Tom DeSanto (b. 1968), American film producer and screenwriter, best known for his work on the first two X-Men movies
  • Michael Desanto, Australian Paralympic silver and bronze medalist
  • Daniel DeSanto (b. 1980), Canadian actor


  1. 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)


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