Pretto Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Pretto last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
Order your pack and our heraldry team researches and paints the Pretto coat of arms for you.
Meaning and origin of the Pretto last name
Meaning of the Pretto last name: dark / dusky. Pretto is a surname in Portuguese and Brazilian records, often from Italian Pretto, "dark" or "dusky", a complexion byname. The last name reached Brazil through Italian and Portuguese streams. São Paulo Italian parish books of the 1890s already keep Pretto.
Arms associated with the Pretto name
In Portugal and Brazil a coat of arms often goes with a family name, and heraldry associated with the Pretto surname follows that custom.
Get your full Pretto family history
This is only a glimpse of the Pretto story. The full Pretto history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Pretto coat of arms. Get the full Pretto report.
Pretto name FAQ
What does the Pretto name mean?
Dark / dusky. Common variants include Preto, Negretto.
Where does the Pretto surname come from?
It originates in Portugal, and is also found in Brazil, the United States and Angola.
Is there a Pretto coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Pretto coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: José Pedro Machado, Dicionário Onomástico Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (Lisboa, 1984); Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).