E. De Felice characterizes it as a surname proper to Liguria and, sporadically, to Piedmont. He derives it from a medieval name and nickname documented in Genoa in 1160 ("Anfossus Nata") and in Turin in 1363 ("Bertinus Nata"), formed from the Ligurian and Piedmontese word nata, with the meaning "cork; cork stopper; cork float for fishing nets and lines".

E. Rossoni, by contrast, links it to the Latin surname Natta, documented in Cicero's oration Pro Murena. He notes that in the second half of the 12th century the Guelph line of the Natta was feudatory in the Alessandria area, and that in 1190 a certain Oberto Natta figures as podestà of Asti. Rossoni places the surname mainly in the Imperia area and, secondarily, in the Turin and Asti areas.