The surname Preite is of anthroponymic and nickname origin, derived from terms designating the priest. On this point E. Rossoni and N. Bergamo agree, linking it with the Late Latin praebiter and with the Greek presbyteros ("elder," "priest"), the base of Christian ecclesiastical terminology.

E. Rossoni notes that the surname alludes to belonging or family relation with a priest, in keeping with nicknames formed within the religious sphere, and documents its transformation into a surname from the medieval period. In this way, the surname reflects a designation linked to the ecclesiastical environment, later fixed as a hereditary surname.