According to one imaginative theory, the name of the town, is derived from Mutini Fanum, which would reference to the remote and lasting presence of a religion - and therefore of a relevant temple - in honor of the forest of Priapo, god of the gardens and agriculture.
According to the research of Ernesto Giammarco, Mutignano more correctly would derive its name from the Roman personality Mutius, transformed then into Mut (t) inius.