E. De Felice notes that the surname derives from the nickname and occupational name Manente, formed from the northern word manente, from the Latin manens manentis, the present participle of manere ("to remain"). In the Middle Ages, this term designated the settlers obliged to remain on the estate where they had been born and worked, and by extension it took on the meaning of "bailiff" or "steward of agricultural estates", as well as that of sharecropper. De Felice places it within the same semantic field as surnames such as Fattori, Manassero, Masoero, Massai and Mezzadri, and notes a presence in the Lombardy area for the form Manenti, and in Veneto for the form Manente.

E. Rossoni agrees that the surname should derive from the medieval name Manente, but adds that in some cases it may allude directly to the condition of the serf or settler bound to the land —that is, the manente of the Latin maneo—, for lacking the freedom to leave. Rossoni identifies different areas of presence: a main one between Brescia, Bergamo and Milan, another in the Pesaro area, in the region of the Marche, and a third in the Ragusa area, in Sicily.