Pinto


Pinto is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese 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. It is linguistically related to the name of Columbus' ship La Pinta, meaning The Painted One, The Look, or The Spotted One. Also related, though greatly diverging in meaning, is the unit of measurment Pint, which comes from the Old French word pinte and perhaps ultimately from Vulgar Latin pincta meaning "painted", for marks painted on the side of a container to show capacity.

People with the surname