Absolutely very rare, present only in northern Italy, one of our readers, Aldo Retus of Lodi, suggests to us the results of his researches: Retus (from which also the surnames Retusi, Rethus and Rectus, Retussi, Rhetus and other variants) appear in this form ( Iohannes Retus) already in the twelfth century, attested by a regesto for the payment of taxes of Fodro and of animal contract of the lands site between Pavia and Milan (Pavia, Biblioteca Civic Bonetta). In Switzerland, Retus is common as a first name (often in the form of Reto), especially in the canton of Graubünden, but not as a surname. The Grisons are of the Reto-Romancia language, and the name Retus-Reto indicates its belonging to those populations (see also the Classical Latin Raetus or Raeticus = Ræme, inhabitant of the Rhomian Alps). Some experts of Chur lean for the derivation of the surname Retus from the name of baptism or from the place of provenance (very frequent events in Onomastica: see the various of Antoni, Di Pietro, Angela; Veronese, Bergamaschi, Germans, etc.). Retus, then, originally from Rezia.
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