All these surnames have an Italian origin and it is probable that they derive from the medieval proper name Fantino. In medieval Italy the forms Fantus, Fantino, Fantinus and Fante are documented as personal names.

C. Volontè explains that Fantin is a surname specific to the Veneto; Fantini is spread throughout the centre-north of Italy; Fantino is typical of western Piedmont, although it also appears in Udine; and Fantinati is characteristic of the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara and Rovigo. This last form would respond to a Romagnol patronymic construction ending in -ati, referring to the descendants of a Fantin or Fantino.

J. Tosti confirms the antiquity of this name, noting the double possibility of origin: as a hypocoristic derived from the Latin infans (child, young person), or as a Christian devotional name.

Origin and meaning

There are various hypotheses on the origin of this surname:

• It could derive from the Latin word infans, "child" or "young person", functioning as a byname that alluded to youth.
• It could also be related to place names such as Campo San Fantino in Venice.
• In some cases, the surname is linked with the Christian devotion to Saint Fantino (Fantinus), an Italian saint of the 10th century born in Calabria, whose monastic and eremitic life had great influence. He is distinguished from another Calabrian saint of the same name known as Fantino the Miracle-Worker.

First traces

Mentions of the lawyer Fantinus are recorded in Monreale (Palermo) towards the end of the 6th century. In northern Italy, documents of 1500 found in Portogruaro (Veneto) mention Gastaldo De Fantino. There are also parish registers in Brembilla (Bergamo) of the 17th century. In Alzano Lombardo a stone tombstone is preserved with the coat of arms of Fra Cristoforus De Fantinis.