The surname Preta presents a toponymic and nickname origin, linked to the term preta ("stone"), from the Latin root petra. On this point E. Rossoni and V. Blunda agree, noting that the surname may derive both from place names related to this term and from descriptive nicknames.

E. Rossoni relates it with place names such as Preta di Caposele or Preta di Pizzoferrato, which indicates a geographic origin linked to the environment. For his part, V. Blunda highlights its Sicilian dialect form prèta and notes that it could have originated as a reference to a person who lived beside a rocky formation or, in a figurative sense, to someone of firm character. In this way, the surname reflects both a territorial connection and a descriptive designation.