Pienovi is a rare surname of Genoese origin, documented in the city of Genoa and its area (Liguria) from at least the end of the 18th century. One of the oldest recorded attestations is that of Raffaele Pienovi (1779–1870), born in Genoa, son of Carlo Pienovi and Paola Massucco, known as an entrepreneur, broker, merchant and impresario in the city. The Pienovi family remained present in the Genoese area at least until the 20th century.

The surname does not figure in the classic Italian onomastic repertoires, so it is considered of very local diffusion. The most probable etymology relates it to the Italian adjective pieno ('full') or to the group of surnames formed on Ligurian personal names or bynames with archaic suffixes in -ovi, common in eastern Liguria.