The authors agree that Bugatti is a surname of northern Italy with documented presence since the Middle Ages, although they propose different origins.

E. Rossoni documents its transformation into a surname in the Brescia area from the 12th century, with the heirs of Petri Bugatti, and in the 13th century in the Provence area. He recalls that in the 15th century the portrait painter Zanetto Bugatto worked in Milan in the service of Francesco Sforza. He notes that Bugatti has an important cluster in Lumezzane, in the Brescia area, another in the Milan area and another in the Ancona area. The variant Bugatto, extremely rare, is from the Genoa area.

Surnames in Italy considers that it belongs to the group of surnames derived from animal nicknames. Bugatto means "silkworm", in the variant Bigatti (in dialect bigatt). These surnames appear documented in Monza in 1237, with 22 families.