Pinels have also been very well represented in Spain since at least the 16th century. In this case pinel may come from Castilian word ‘pino’ (‘the pine’) or a derivative of ‘pinar’ (‘place of planted pines’).

Was the name born simultaneously in the two languages or the result of the migration of individuals of one country towards the other?

There is no doubt whatsoever that the ancestor of all French and Spanish Pinels, of all Italian Pinelli and Pinella was none other than the Latin ‘pinus pinaster’, the ‘maritime pine’. This tree features in both Roman and Greek mythology, and is nowadays widespread on both the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, from the south of Italy to Brittany, in the North West of France.