Where the Pino surname comes from
Pino most likely comes from an old first name. It was the short, affectionate form of long names: Giuseppino, Filippino, the old Iacopino. The surname grew out of that pet name used at home. A second theory ties it to the word pino, the pine tree, and that is why the origin is still partly debated.
One name, many parallel stories
Precisely because it grew out of common names, the Pino surname has no single forefather. Different branches started in different places in the South, each on its own. The PDF tells how those household pet names ended up in the registers.
Where the Pinos live today
Pino is a southern surname: about 7,500 people carry it in Italy, more than three thousand families. Its heartland is Sicily, around Messina. In Saponara, in the province of Messina, it is the most common surname in town. Other old groups live in Calabria, the Salento and the Naples area. Tuscany, Lombardy and Piedmont are home to families who arrived in the 1900s. The PDF has the region-by-region map and the path of the Pinos who left for America.
Variants
Alongside Pino live two related forms, one in central and northern Italy and one in the South. The PDF explains which of the two shares the same root.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Pini | central and northern Italy |
| Pinto | southern Italy |
FAQ
What does the surname Pino mean?
Most likely it is the short, affectionate form of a first name: Giuseppe, Filippo or Iacopo, through Giuseppino, Filippino and Iacopino. A second theory ties it to the tree, the pine.
Is Pino a Sicilian surname?
Mostly. Its heartland is the Messina area, and in Saponara it is the most common surname in town. Other old branches, each of which arose independently, live in Calabria, the Salento and the Naples area.
Are Pino and Pini the same surname?
They share the same root: Pini is the plural form, more common in central and northern Italy. Pinto, on the other hand, is a related southern surname whose origins are partly separate.
Is Pino a Spanish surname?
There is also a Spanish surname Pino, very common in Spain and Latin America. It arose on its own from the word pino and has no link to the Italian families. If your family comes from southern Italy, the root is almost certainly Italian.
Are all Pinos related?
No. The surname grew out of very common first names, and its branches arose in different, independent places. To trace your own family’s story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Pino surname noble?
The surname itself is not a sign of nobility. There were Pino families with a coat of arms in Liguria and Lombardy, but they were local houses. The story of the southern Pinos is one of small towns and parish registers.
Is there a Pino family coat of arms?
There are coats of arms of individual Pino families, such as the arms of a family from Genoa with a golden pine tree and a lion. They belong to those houses. No single coat of arms belongs to every Pino.
