Show ContentsPinto History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

From the historical and enchanting Italian region of the islands of Sicily emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Pinto family. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves as populations grew and travel became more frequent. 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 Sicily 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 Pinto is a name for a person with a speckled or dark complexion. The surname Pinto is largely found in the south of Italy and in some cases, it may be derived from the word pinto, which, in the Neapolitan dialect, means turkey or bird, and might have referred to one who boasted or strutted like this bird.

Early Origins of the Pinto family

The surname Pinto was first found in Salerno with Landulfo Pinto, a judge in the province in the 13th century.

Early History of the Pinto family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pinto research. The years 1270, 1560, 1576, 1710, 1750, 1766, 1773, 1787, 1800, 1805, 1806 and 1832 are included under the topic Early Pinto History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pinto Spelling Variations

Surnames that originated in Italy are characterized by an enormous number of spelling variations. Some of these are derived from regional traditions and dialects. Northern names, for instance, often end in "o", while southern names tend to end in "i". Other variations come from the fact the medieval scribes tended to spell according to the sound of words, rather than any particular set of rules. The recorded variations of Pinto include Pinto, Pinti, Lo Pinto, La Pinta, Pintus. and others.

Early Notables of the Pinto family

Prominent among bearers of this surname in early times was

  • Ugone Pinto, a soldier in Salerno in 1270
  • Giulio-Cesare Pinto was Lord of the castle of Salerno in 1560
  • Annibale Pinto was a Colonel of the troops in the war of Ostia in 1576. Many religious men also emerged from this Pinto family in Salerno, such as Giovan-Pietro Pinto, Bishop of Fondi
  • Fortunato-Maria was Archbishop of Salerno in 1805. This Salerno family was recognized as nobility in Salerno and Lucera, and owned the territory of Sanmartino. Lorenzo-Bernardino Pinto of Piedmont was...

Pinto Ranking

In the United States, the name Pinto is the 3,259th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Pinto is ranked the 585th most popular surname with an estimated 7,967 people with that name. 2


Pinto migration to the United States +

Investigation of immigration and passenger lists has revealed a number of people bearing the name Pinto:

Pinto Settlers in United States in the 16th Century
  • Baltasar Pinto who settled in Chile in 1555
  • Alejo Pinto who arrived in Venezuela in 1591
Pinto Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Abraham Pinto, who landed in New York, NY in 1716 3
  • Joseph Jesurum Pinto, who landed in New York, NY in 1766 3
Pinto Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Antonia Ritta Pinto who settled in Philadelphia in 1811
  • Hernan Pinto, who landed in America in 1812 3
  • Domingo De Pinto, who arrived in America in 1813 3
  • Pedro Pinto, who landed in America in 1814 3
  • Juan Pinto, who arrived in New Spain in 1834 3
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Pinto Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Alessandro Pinto, aged 23, who immigrated to the United States from S. Nicola, Italy, in 1906
  • Adelina Pinto, aged 8, who landed in America from St. Nicolie, Italy, in 1907
  • Aencdeo Pinto, aged 6, who settled in America from Castell. Stabia, Italy, in 1910
  • Addolorata Pinto, aged 24, who landed in America from Bovino, Italy, in 1916
  • Adelina Pinto, aged 12, who immigrated to the United States from Italy, in 1920
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Pinto migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 4
Pinto Settlers in West Indies in the 16th Century
  • Francisco Pinto who immigrated to Dominican Republic in 1538
Pinto Settlers in West Indies in the 19th Century
  • Francisco Pinto, who landed in Dominican Republic in 1838 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Pinto (post 1700) +

  • Dan Pinto (b. 1960), American composer, keyboardist and drummer-percussionist
  • Rudy Pinto, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Virginia, 2004 5
  • Nicholas Howard Pinto, American Republican politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly from Kings County 18th District, 1924; Candidate for U.S. Representative from New York at-large, 1932 5
  • Joseph A. Pinto, American Republican politician, Candidate for New York State Senate 24th District, 1962 5
  • John L. Pinto, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly 17th District, 2008 5
  • Frank J. Pinto, American Republican politician, Candidate for West Virginia State House of Delegates from McDowell County, 1940 5
  • Raffaele "Lele" Pinto (1945-2020), Italian rally driver who won the 1974 Rally Portugal
  • José Pinto (1929-2024), Portuguese actor
  • Joao Manuel de Oliveira Pinto (1971-2024), Portuguese footballer
  • Ignatius Paul Pinto (1925-2023), Indian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Shimoga from 1988 to 1998 and Archbishop of Bangalore from 1998 to 2004
  • ... (Another 13 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
  3. 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)
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  5. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 21) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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