E. Rossoni proposes two hypotheses of origin. The first suggests that the surname would derive from a nickname based on a dialectal alteration of the Greek term akoitis, meaning "wife". The second links it to the Greek gentilic Akorinthios, that is, "native of Corinth", thus relating the surname to a geographical origin.

V. Blunda agrees with this second interpretive line and specifies the etymon as acorinthiòs, a Greek form that likewise alludes to the city of Corinth. Blunda also notes that the Greek ending -iòs was adapted to Italian pluralisation in -i, a common process in the surnames of southern Italy formed on ethnonyms and gentilics. The surname is documented in the Calabria region, in localities of the Vibo Valentia area such as Ricadi and Briatico, as well as in Rome; Blunda also records it in Sicily.