A. Bongioanni notes that this surname derives from a given name of Greek origin meaning "white", linked to Saint Alfeo, martyred in Lentini under the emperor Decius, whose feast day is celebrated on 10 May. According to Bongioanni, the name had special frequency in Sicily.

V. Blunda specifies that the etymon is the Greek term Alfèos, the name of a river in the Peloponnese that passed into Greek onomastics as a personal name. Blunda adds that this given name entered the Sicilian tradition by Byzantine route, that is, through the cultural and religious influence of the Eastern Roman Empire in southern Italy, and over time became a surname through family transmission.