The authors agree that this surname derives from the Greek personal name Agesilāos, borne historically by several kings of Sparta, and that its presence as a surname is concentrated in Sicily.

V. Blunda develops the etymological analysis: the name is composed of ágō, "to lead", and laós, "people", with the sense of "leader of the people". He also notes that it entered Sicilian onomastics as a given name of Greek origin that became a surname through family transmission, via Byzantine influence in southern Italy.