According to E. De Felice, Albanese is an ethnic and geographical surname derived from the ethnonym Albanese, meaning “an inhabitant or native of Albania.” It was originally used as a nickname or identifying name for individuals of Albanian origin and for members of the Albanian communities that settled in southern Italy.

De Felice notes that large Albanian migrations to Italy, particularly from the 15th century onward, led to the establishment of communities in regions such as Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Campania, Calabria, and Sicily. As a result, the surname became especially widespread throughout southern Italy.

E. Rossoni agrees with this interpretation, describing Albanese as a surname that preserves the memory of Albanian settlers who established communities along the Adriatic coast and later expanded into southern Italy and Sicily. He likewise identifies the surname as an ethnic designation referring to ancestral Albanian origin.

Overall, Albanese is a surname of ethnic-geographical origin that originally identified a person from Albania or descended from the historic Albanian communities established in Italy, preserving the memory of those migrations across the centuries.