According to A. Bongioanni, Adinolfi derives from an old personal name of Germanic origin documented in forms such as Athanulf and Adenulf. This name is composed of the Germanic elements athan and wulf, the latter meaning "wolf" and, by extension, "warrior". The surname belongs to the broad group of patronymic surnames formed from the name of an ancestor.

V. Blunda agrees in attributing to it a Germanic origin and notes that it comes from the compound Athan Wulfa, interpreted as "noble wolf" or "wolf of noble lineage". In this explanation, athan is related to athal, "nobility", while wulfa means "wolf", an animal of great symbolic importance among the Germanic peoples. The wolf occupied a prominent place in Norse mythology and appears frequently in Lombard and Germanic personal names.

Blunda adds that the surname spread in Sicily during the Norman period and that, over time, it gave rise to various dialectal forms and adaptations.

Taken together, Adinolfi is a patronymic surname derived from an old Germanic name that combines the ideas of nobility and warrior strength, preserving the cultural heritage of the Germanic peoples established in Italy.