The authors agree that this surname is characteristic of Sicily, with presence especially in the areas of Syracuse, Palermo, Ragusa and Catania. F. Miranda adds that it is also documented in the areas of Messina, Caltanissetta and Enna, and that small clusters are scattered in almost all the other regions of Italy.

On the origin, Miranda and E. Rossoni agree in pointing to the Greek name Amyntas (Αμύντας), meaning "defender", as the most likely etymology. Both also consider an alternative hypothesis related to the mint plant: Rossoni associates it with dialectal nicknames linked to those who lived near mint fields, while Miranda explains it as the result of an agglutination of the Sicilian a menta, "the mint".

V. Blunda, on the other hand, proposes exclusively a phytonymic origin —that is, derived from the name of a plant— from the dialectal word mènta, without considering the Greek etymology. According to Blunda, the surname may have arisen from a place name applied to those who lived near areas populated with mint, a herb very widespread in Sicilian orchards and used both in cooking and in the traditional medicine of the island.